PBS Teacherline offers both free and paid courses for hourly credit toward teacher certification in addition to paid, graduate level courses. This post will focus on PBS Teacherline’s paid, graduate level courses.
“Flexible, online professional development for PreK-12 educators.” – PBS Teacherline
I utilized one of Teacherline’s paid, graduate level courses in the summer of 2016 when I needed to earn hours for my teacher certification. Paid, graduate level courses from PBS Teacherline offer teachers the opportunity to earn between 1 and 3 hours of graduate school credit from home over the course of 6 weeks.
Below is one example of an online course that also offers graduate credit. You can see the course pricing on the right side straight down from the “HELP” button. This course costs $300. Please note that this price does NOT include the graduate school credit.
If you chose to take the class without the graduate credit option, you will receive a certificate for 45 hours (noted at the very bottom of the page). If you would rather earn graduate credit, there are six options for graduate credit listed below.
You can click on each one to learn more about each university and the cost of graduate credit from each. I chose the financially practical route and went with the cheapest grad credit option (more on that below).
Of the six options above, here is the breakdown on pricing for this 3 hour class:
Ashland University – $510
Madonna University – $450 (see page 11)
Central Michigan University – $350
University of Central Missouri – $360
Sierra Nevada College – $225
Morningside College – $240
While pricing for four of the colleges/universities can be found by clicking on the direct link on the Teacherline page, Madonna University and University of Central Missouri (at the time of this publication) did not link directly to the pricing. Those graduate credit prices are directly linked above for your convenience.
The most economical option for this specific course is requesting graduate credit through Sierra Nevada College. The course and the 3 credits would cost you a total of $525.
A full list of courses can be found on PBS website (click here). This includes the start dates for each course. Be sure to plan ahead so that you are able to manage your course and complete the deadlines.
One final note: Pay attention to the special icons beside certain courses. The star stands for “Teacher Favorite” while the green circle stands for “Classroom Link.” Courses with the “Classroom Link” icon ask teachers to implement their lessons and strategies in a true classroom setting and are recommended for teachers currently teaching applicable classes or for those who have access to those classroom settings.
I hope this has been a helpful overview of PBS Teacherline graduate credit courses. Course availability, pricing, and time tables are available at http://www.pbs.org/teacherline.
If you are looking for additional FREE professional development opportunities, check out any of the blog posts below:
Free PD – No Cost Professional Development Opportunities for Busy Teachers
PART 2 – Free PD – No Cost Professional Development Opportunities for Busy Teachers
Free PD – Volume 3!
the NISH 
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