No, the Department of Education is not offering free teacher certifications

Eighty-six percent of K-12 public schools in the United States reported difficulties hiring teachers for the 2023-24 school year, the National Center for Education Statistics says. Certifications to become a teacher often vary by state, however, typically applicants must pass a test in order to receive a teaching license. 

Many states require that potential teachers pass a Praxis test to receive their license, which can range in price from $64 to $170, depending on the focus of the test. The standardized exams cover a variety of subjects and specialties, including reading, writing and math. 

Advertisements on Facebook claim the U.S. Department of Education is providing free teacher certifications without the exams. One of the posts says the department has begun doing this due to teacher shortages.  A VERIFY reader texted us to ask if these advertisements were real. 

THE QUESTION

Is the Department of Education offering free teacher certifications?

THE SOURCES

• The U.S. Department of Education

• A U.S. Department of Education spokesperson

• A Meta Ad Library review

THE ANSWER

No, the Department of Education is not offering free teacher certifications.

WHAT WE FOUND

Advertisements that claim the U.S. Department of Education is offering free teacher certifications are false. A spokesperson for the Education Department confirmed to VERIFY that the posts “are not from the Department.”

VERIFY conducted a search of the Meta Ad Library, a database that shows ads on Facebook and Instagram, and found some examples of these types of posts. 

The advertisements never link out to the official websites of the organization they are posting about. For example, the website featured in the ad sent to us by a VERIFY reader is https://www.buzznewfeeds.com, not the Department of Education’s official site, which is ed.gov. 

The website has no information about a free teacher certification program and is instead filled with suggested search terms you can click on, like “free online teacher certification” or “get teaching certification online.” These search terms also do not lead to any information about free teacher licenses administered by the Department of Education. 

The webpage about the free teacher license also says the teacher certification is “issued by the Ministry of Education,” which does not exist in the United States. An about page on the website says the site is based in Hong Kong. 

The website also features a disclaimer that it has “affiliate relationships with retailers, directly correlating our interests with reader interests.” This means the ads may have the goal of luring people to the website because a commission can be earned when people click links or purchase items.

A search conducted in Meta Ad Library on one of the advertisers found that the same accounts that posted about free teacher certifications also posted similar advertisements about other organizations offering free certifications.

For example, one published advertisement claims “FedEx will offer a free CDL certificate of qualification, no test required” due to a professional driver shortage. On average, the process of getting a CDL certificate costs between $4,000 and $12,000, Pride Transport says. 

Another ad says “HCA Healthcare will offer LPN certification without an exam!” Programs to get LPN certification can cost between $12,000 and $15,000, Practical Nursing says.

Teacher certifications are granted by individual states and different states have different policies and requirements. The U.S. Department of Education has resources for how to get a teaching license in each state on its official website. 

Some states have loosened or changed requirements due to teacher shortages. For example, California began allowing applicants to skip taking certain tests if they had taken relevant coursework that proved knowledge in the test’s subject. In 2022, Oklahoma removed its general education exam requirement.