ACT 48

What is Act 48?

Continuing Professional Education is important in Pennsylvania.  Act 48 of 1999 requires all Pennsylvania educators holding Pennsylvania public school certification including Instructional I and II, Educational Specialist I and II, Administrative, Supervisory, Letters of Eligibility and all vocational certificates to participate in ongoing professional education.  The law went into effect on July 1, 2000.

Act 48 FAQ - Continuing Professional Education Requirements

PDE's Certificate Status Circular for Educators (new, August 2023)

What is needed to comply with Act 48?

Act 48 requires the satisfactory completion of continuing professional education every five years.  These requirements can be met by completing one of these options:

  • 6 credits of collegiate study (One credit is equivalent to 30 hours in the classroom.)
  • 180 hours of continuing professional education programs, activities or learning experiences
  • Any combination of collegiate credits, continuing professional education courses, or other approved programs, activities or learning experiences equivalent to 180 clock hours

I am a principal (superintendent), how do I get Pennsylvania Inspired Leadership (PIL) hours?  

On the OPC webform, please indicate that you are requesting your coursework be applied to the PIL requirement.  You must be certified as an administrator AND hold an administrator position in a PA school district to request PIL course application to your Act 48 hour allotment.  Only the Lehigh COE Superintendent Letter of Eligibility coursework is approved for Act 45 continuing education.

Please note that PDE does not allow credits for teaching a course, as you are being paid to teach the course.

There are two ways to earn Act 48 credits at Lehigh University. 
#1 Take credited coursework at Lehigh University.

Review the information below before requesting hours:

To fulfill the 180-hour Act 48 requirement, only two 3-credit courses, or other combination of 6 total credits, need to be reported. Please do not submit all of your coursework, as we will only upload the amount of hours that you need.  If your district requires proof of courses you have taken, please request a transcript from the Registrar's office.

Please do not report courses that you have not yet received a grade in. Wait until the course is completed and graded before submitting.  NOTE that summer courses are input at the end of the summer (May start date to August end date).  The dates will not be available to request until the last day of finals are complete.  

Please make sure to enter your PA Professional ID Number. Hours cannot be processed without this number.

Please click here for the link to the reporting system.

#2 Participate in a non-credit workshop or course at Lehigh University. 

If you take a non-credit workshop or course at Lehigh, your hours will be automatically uploaded once the group roster has been submitted to the OPC.

**If you are a group that would like to offer Act 48 to your workshop or non-credit course participants, you must complete an application for approval by the Office of Professional Certification and the Associate Dean.   All of the application materials and information can be found below.  You must wait until you have received final approval from the COE for Act 48 hours before advertising its availability.


ACT 48 Information for Lehigh University campus providers
  1. Act 48 Application Guide 
  2. Act 48 Application (please email lic212@lehigh.edu for Word document copy of application OR a DocuSign link)
  3. Act 48 Participant Sign-in Sheet
  4. Act 48 Pennsylvania Learning Standards
  5. Act 48 Professional Development Survey
  6. Act 48 Professional Development Survey SUMMARY document
  7. Standard 8 Suggested Document (alter as necessary or provide your own document)
  8. Act 48 Excel Spreadsheet Roster 
  9. CHECKLIST FOR ACT 48 PROVIDERS - a concise listing of needs to be met for Act 48 
  10. Please contact the OPC if you would like to send your participants a "Certificate of Completion".  We have a document on file for use in those instances.

Please review and complete the application (in WORD only, do not convert it to a PDF) and send it to the OPC at inotcfp@lehigh.edu at least 8 weeks ahead of your program.  Please do not include Act 48 availability in your advertising until receiving final approval from the COE.

The OPC is able to assist you with this process, please call us!