Institutional Recommendation Request Instructions for The University of Arizona

The Institutional Recommendation (IR) is awarded to applicants who have completed an Arizona State Board approved educator preparation program. Applying for Certification with IR allows the applicant to pay a reduced certification service fee and qualify for faster processing of the certificate through the Arizona Department of Education. Please review the following information carefully before completing the IR request form. This IR request form is for students who are completing a University of Arizona educator preparation program within the upcoming year. 

Institutional Recommendations must be issued within 45 days of program completion, so it is critical that you submit the form below by Dec. 1 for Fall graduates and by April 1 for Spring/Summer graduates. This allows for the timely processing of your IR Request. 

Note: Teacher certification program completers must have completed Structured English Immersion, ESL, or Bilingual endorsement requirements to be issued an IR. The US & Arizona Constitution requirement is cheaper and easier to include with the IR, but this deficiency can be removed after certification if it is not completed prior to IR issuance. 

Please have your AZ IVP Fingerprint Clearance Card information and/or Educator ID number in hand before beginning this application. 

Submit Your IR Request Form

Undergraduate and Graduate Students: Bachelors degrees must be posted by Graduation Services. Masters degrees must be posted by Graduate College Graduation Services. Your degree will not be posted if coursework for your degree is incomplete or missing. You must submit all required graduation paperwork by posted deadlines in order to graduate. 

Certification-Only Students: All grades for the current semester must be posted. You must also provide an official transcript from the institution where your degree was awarded if it was not completed at the University of Arizona.

If you have questions regarding the IR or certification, please contact the Certification Officer, Sara Knepper by email or 520-621-7865.

If you need to mail an official transcript or other documentation to the Certification Officer, please send it to:

Sara Knepper
Student Services
PO Box 210069
Tucson, AZ 85721-0069

For more information about certification rules and requirements, please visit the Arizona Department of Education

For certification exam information, please visit the Educator Certification: Testing Information page.