Increase Your Pay

Salary advancement requirements vary by school district, so it’s important to start by contacting your district to understand their specific guidelines.

To support you, we offer a free course that walks you step-by-step through the process, including ready-to-use templates to help you navigate and document your salary advancement plan with confidence. 

In most cases, districts require courses to be graduate-level and accredited. All Happy Teacher Professional Development courses meet these requirements—they are graduate-level and HLC-accredited, making them widely accepted for salary advancement. 

When you complete a Happy Teacher PD course, you will receive a certificate of completion documenting your completed hours. Some districts may accept certificates of completion or professional development hours for salary advancement. 

However, for salary advancement, pay raises, lane movement, or step increases, many school districts require official graduate credit. If your district requires graduate credit, you will need to select the graduate-credit option for your course. 

Because each district sets its own salary advancement guidelines, we recommend checking with your district’s HR department before enrolling to confirm what type of credit is required and how the course will apply.

In most cases, yes. Teachers commonly use graduate-level courses to move across salary lanes, such as from BA to BA+15 or MA to MA+30, by accumulating approved credits. 

Most school districts require salary advancement courses to be graduate-level and issued through an accredited institution. Happy Teacher Professional Development courses offer graduate-level credit through an HLC-accredited university partner, making them widely accepted for salary advancement. 

Because each district sets its own policies, we recommend confirming with your district before enrolling to ensure the course will meet your salary advancement requirements. 

To make this process easier, we also offer a free-step-by-step course with ready-to-use templates to help you understand, plan, and document your salary advancement pathway.

Continuing education hours are typically used for teacher license renewal, while graduate-level credit is usually required for salary advancement, lane changes, step increases, or pay raises. 

Happy Teacher Professional Development offers two pricing options for each course: 

Continuing Education Option: You receive a certificate of completion documenting your completed hours. This option is commonly used for license renewal. 

Graduate-Credit Option: You receive graduate-level credit through one of our HLC-accredited university partners, along with an official university transcript. This option is typically the best choice for teachers seeking salary advancement. 

Because every school district sets its own policies, we always recommend checking with your district before enrolling to confirm which type of credit they require for salary advancement or pay raises. 

Yes. Many teachers use online graduate-level courses to support salary advancement, a pay raise, a lane change, or a step increase. Happy Teacher PD courses are flexible, self-paced, and designed specifically for working educators, so you can complete coursework on your own schedule without disrupting your teaching responsibilities. 

Most school districts require teachers to purchase the graduate-level credit option for salary advancement purposes. Because each district sets its own guidelines, we recommend checking with your district before enrolling to confirm what type of credit is required. 

Many school districts require official graduate-level credit from an accredited university for salary advancement, lane movement, or pay scale advancement. Happy Teacher PD offers a graduate credit option through our HLC-accredited university partner, giving teachers a flexible, self-paced way to complete coursework that may support salary advancement. Because each district sets its own guidelines, we recommend checking with your district before enrolling to confirm what type of credit is required.