Federal law mandates that all teachers must possess a Bachelor's degree to become certified with a teaching license. In North Carolina, to become a teacher you must complete an education program with a state approved college or a state-accredited university. Many teaching programs at accredited universities require prospective teachers to complete 30 hours of credit within the education program. People who want to teach a specialty area in secondary level classes typically need to complete 30 hours in the education program as well as an additional 12 hours of credit in "advanced study," or the courses related to the specialty area they want to teach. North Carolina recognizes and accepts out-of-state education programs that are accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), programs that follow the standards of the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC) and programs that are approved through the interstate agreement or that are based on NASDTEC guidelines.
In addition to fulfilling the education requirements, prospective teachers must also pass a series of tests to obtain their teaching certificate in North Carolina. First-time applicants must take the Praxis Series test, which is the standard exam for North Carolina teacher licenses, and meet the minimum score requirements in effect at the time they apply. To obtain their license, potential teachers must also pass a Professional Knowledge test of the NTE Core Battery and one NTE specialty area test.
The North Carolina Department of Instruction establishes the core requirements students must fulfill to graduate from high school. For any students who entered ninth grade in the school year 2009-10, the graduation requirements include four credits of English courses, four credits of math courses (consisting of math, algebra and geometry), three credits of science courses (consisting of physics, biology and environmental science) and three credits of history courses (U.S. history, civics and world history). Additionally, to graduate high school in North Carolina students must complete one credit of physical education and six credits of electives with two of those elective hours pertaining to career and technical education, arts education, second languages, or a combination of two of these. Furthermore, students who entered the ninth grade before the 2009-10 school-year will have to complete two credits of a second-language course, but such students are only required to complete three credits of electives.
There are necessarily different graduation requirements for students with cognitive disabilities in North Carolina. To graduate high school, these students must complete four credits of English courses, three credits of occupational mathematics courses, two credits of life-skills science courses and two credits of social studies courses. Students with cognitive disabilities must also fulfill one credit of physical education and six credits of elective courses regarding occupational preparation.