Illinois renewal is an ELIS workflow, not just a professional-development total. Identify your license and employment status first, enter eligible activities before you renew, then complete registration for the right region. A teacher, school-support professional, and administrator can see very different requirements even when their five-year cycles end on the same date.
Start with the license and the job you actually held
For a teaching or school-support PEL, the general requirement is 120 professional-development clock hours per five-year cycle. Teaching-field PEL holders generally owe that total when employed at least 50% FTE in a covered Illinois public, charter, or state-operated school. Work status matters: ELIS bases the required amount on the employment/PD status recorded for each part of the cycle. If you were part-time, retired, working outside a covered Illinois school, or away for military service, update the applicable dates and status rather than assuming the system will infer them. ISBE says accounts default to active status and reset to active after renewal.
There is a cycle-specific exception: the requirement is reduced by 20% for any five-year renewal cycle that includes the 2021–22 school year. For a standard 120-hour teaching/support cycle, that is 96 hours; for a standard 100-hour administrator cycle, 80 hours. Confirm the amount displayed in ELIS for your dates and license. A current National Board designation creates a separate 60-hour requirement (rather than an ordinary 120-hour teaching total); if certification is no longer valid at renewal, the full cycle requirement applies. Do not stack reductions yourself—ask the ROE/ISC or ISBE if the displayed number looks wrong.
| License and circumstances | Typical cycle requirement | What to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Teaching or school-support PEL | 120 hours; 96 if the cycle includes 2021–22 | Covered employment, cycle-specific reductions, exemption/proration |
| Administrative PEL / CSBO in a requiring role | 100 hours + 1 AA each fiscal year; 80 hours in a cycle including 2021–22 | Applicable role for 50%+ FTE; missed AA requires 2 per missed year |
| Current National Board designation | 60 PD hours for teaching PEL | Certification must be current at renewal and entered in ELIS |
| Eligible school-support professional license/certification | Can satisfy the 120-hour requirement | Must be active/current, related to the PEL endorsement, and entered in PD+ |
These are standard cycle figures. ELIS calculates the personal obligation from the license, cycle dates, employment status and eligible reductions. A cycle containing school year 2021–22 has a statutory 20% reduction.
Match the requirement to your role
A PEL endorsed in an administrative field, or a CSBO license, generally requires 100 PD hours plus one Illinois Administrators’ Academy (AA) course each fiscal year when you work in a position requiring that credential. A Teacher Leader endorsement triggers the same AA rule when you work in an administrative capacity at least half of the school day. If you hold an administrative endorsement but are not working in a job that requires it, the first full five-year cycle has a different AA rule; confirm your circumstances in the current code and ELIS. For an administrator in a charter school, ISBE currently lists an exemption from PD and AA. Missing a required AA course means two courses for each missed fiscal year; AA hours do not roll over.
School-support personnel employed and providing services in Illinois public schools may satisfy the 120 hours by holding an active, current, related IDFPR professional license or an accepted national certification. This is not a blanket exemption for every support role or credential: for example, the state lists profession-specific relationships for counselors, psychologists, speech-language pathologists, nurses, and social workers. Enter the credential in PD+ using the “IDFPR License or National Certification” activity type so the requirement is reflected.
Choose credit that Illinois will accept
Ordinary learning or attendance earns one PD hour per clock hour when it is provided by an Illinois-approved provider and addresses an eligible professional-development criterion. Check that the provider is currently approved before paying for a course. An approved provider may, at its discretion, partner with an unapproved third party; get that provider’s approval before enrolling, not after completing the activity.
Qualifying education coursework converts at 15 PD hours per semester hour or 10 per quarter hour. It must be related to education and meet the Illinois institution/provider rules; coursework through an out-of-state college needs approval through an Illinois-approved PD provider. Enter the activity and upload the transcript in ELIS. A current National Board certificate must be entered as its own activity for 60 hours; a valid certificate alone may not change the displayed balance until you record it.
Enter activities and keep evidence
Use ELIS/PD+ on a desktop or laptop. For each activity, check the title, dates, location or delivery details, hours, and provider before saving. Both the start and end dates must fall within the five-year cycle for an activity to enter that cycle. Illinois Administrators’ Academy providers enter AA courses; educators enter other PD themselves. Coursework requires a transcript upload, and school-support licensure evidence requires the relevant credential record. Keep certificates, attendance proof, transcripts, provider details, and course descriptions: the state may audit the record. ELIS activity entry is not the same thing as a guarantee that every activity meets the rule.
Time renewal around the end of the cycle
ELIS renewal opens April 1 of the expiration year. Before submitting, reconcile the required PD/AA, update employment status for the relevant years, and confirm every activity appears. Extra PD completed between April 1 and June 30 of the final cycle year may roll into the next cycle, but only if entered before renewal. If you still plan to complete eligible hours during that window or summer, wait to renew; ELIS does not carry over hours entered after you renew. AA courses cannot roll over.
The 2026 FAQ gave June 30–August 31 as the grace period to finish and enter missing PD. Those dates are cycle-specific: August 31, 2026 has passed. If a 2026-expiring license is now lapsed, follow reinstatement rather than treating the grace period as open. For a future expiration, check that year’s ISBE instructions and the date in ELIS.
Renew, register, then verify employment validity
Renewal and registration are connected in the portal but represent separate checks. Every license must be registered in at least one region to be valid for employment, and in each region where you teach. If you do not yet have an Illinois job, register in any county; adding another region later has no additional fee. ISBE lists PEL registration at $10 per year, collected for the five-year validity period (normally $50). Pay the fee and review the registered region, license status, endorsements, and new validity dates after the transaction. A renewed but unregistered license is not ready for employment.
- Active cycle: reconcile ELIS PD/employment status and AA balance
- Still within the cycle: enter all evidence; defer renewal if using eligible Apr 1–Jun 30 rollover hours
- Renewal ready: submit renewal, pay registration fee, verify every teaching region
- Lapsed for missing PD/AA: complete deficiencies, submit PD, then choose 9 semester hours or $50 penalty
- After reinstatement: pay back and current registration fees; verify status and dates
Finish cycle PD first; renewal, regional registration and lapsed-license reinstatement are different portal outcomes.
If ELIS says the license lapsed
First complete and submit any missing PD/AA that caused the lapse. Then use the Reinstatement action in ELIS. ISBE’s current route offers either nine semester hours of eligible coursework completed within the previous five fiscal years, or a $50 penalty instead of those nine hours. You also owe back registration fees and the current registration fee. The coursework option must meet the state’s endorsement/content criteria; do not assume the same coursework can satisfy both the PD deficiency and the reinstatement option.
A practical final check is: (1) confirm license and role; (2) correct ELIS employment status; (3) compare the displayed PD and AA balance to the applicable cycle rule; (4) enter evidence and resolve warnings; (5) renew when ready; (6) register the license in each teaching region; and (7) save the confirmation. If a balance or exemption conflicts with your records, contact the local ROE/ISC before making a payment or relying on a course.
Illinois renewal at a glance
The standard shorthand is 120 hours for teaching/support, 100 hours plus annual AA for covered administrators, and separate registration after the PD record is reconciled. But the current cycle may reduce the total by 20%, National Board status can change the teaching total, support credentials can satisfy the requirement, and employment status may prorate it. Use your ELIS cycle dates and live balance as the final checklist—not an old cycle chart or a course seller’s summary.
