Hassle-Free Approval

District Approval & Course Acceptance

We want you to enroll with absolute confidence. While our courses are built to align seamlessly with state licensing guidelines, school districts hold the ultimate authority on salary advancement approvals. We make it easy to secure pre-approval before you spend a dime.

Every standard Upward Teachers course provides 3 graduate-level professional development semester hours transcripted by the University of Massachusetts Global.

Approval Email Template

Copy, paste, and edit the above letter to request pre-approval from your district or school.

The Gold Standard: Regional Accreditation

The single most important factor school districts look for when approving continuing education credits is Regional Accreditation. If a course isn’t backed by a recognized university, human resources will likely reject it.

Upward Teachers completely eliminates this risk. Because our courses are transcripted directly by the University of Massachusetts Global (accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission), they carry the highest level of institutional recognition accepted by school districts nationwide.

How to Request District Pre-Approval

Securing pre-approval protects your financial investment and ensures your hard work counts exactly where it matters. Follow these steps to request sign-off from your administration or HR department:

Select Your State & Course: Use our directory to find courses for your region, then click onto the specific course page.
Download the Pre-Approval Packet: Grab a comprehensive syllabus from any Graduate-Credit course page detailing our university credentials and course layout.
Submit to Your Administrator: Send the forms to your principal, superintendent, or human resources manager for formal signature before registering for your asynchronous Upward course.

📄 Pre-Approval Template

We’ve put together a professional, pre-filled request template that details our UMass Global partnership, WASC accreditation, and course rigor.

You can copy, paste and edit our Approval Template to send directly to your district or school administrator.

Frequently asked questions

Rejections are incredibly rare because of our UMass Global regional accreditation. However, if your district formally denies a pre-approval request for an Upward Teachers course, let our support team know immediately. We will gladly help provide additional structural documentation or work with you to find a solution.

No. Our flat tuition rate of $240 covers the complete course experience, including the registration fee for your 3 graduate-level professional development semester hours.

Once you complete the self-paced, portfolio-free coursework, you will follow our standard guide to order your official transcript directly from the UMass Global registrar.

Absolutely. Many educators plan their horizontal lane changes out in advance by submitting 3 to 5 courses for pre-approval at the start of a semester or school break. This allows you to steadily progress through your asynchronous modules knowing your salary bump is secure.

We offer a 7-day refund guarantee for our professional development courses, provided you have not yet accessed or downloaded the digital course content.

Once a course download link has been accessed, or any associated promotional rewards (such as gift cards) have been activated or redeemed, the purchase is no longer eligible for a refund.

We process everything efficiently so you can meet your district's deadlines:

Course Evaluation (Within 1 week): Once you email your completed coursework to our support team, we will evaluate and grade it within one week.
Grade Posting (Within 5 business days): Once we submit your evaluation, UMass Global posts the grade to your student account within five business days.
Transcript Ordering (Instant): As soon as your grade is posted, you can log into your UMass Global portal to order your official transcripts directly from the registrar.