The School Board awards Entitlements for the following conferred degrees:

Master's $3,650

Florida Specialist $6,800

Doctorate $8,000

The District does not pay for degrees in real estate, law or religion.

How to Receive Payment for an Advanced Degree
Complete the Request for Payment of an Advanced Degree for Teachers form attach the official transcript showing "DEGREE CONFERRED" or a Credential Evaluation Report if a foreign degree (see side panel on left for more information), and send to the Talent Acquisition & Operations Department - Certification. Applications and transcripts may be submitted throughout the year, but no later than the last day of the school year. Applications received in our office after the last day of the school year will be evaluated for the following school year, retroactive payment will not be processed.  

Your eligibility for an advanced degree payment cannot be evaluated until an official transcript or an original foreign credential evaluation reflecting the degree conferral is received. 

If approved, you will receive an email with the effective start date for your payment.

Note: The Request for Payment of an Advanced Degree form is a pdf document and may be completed on screen prior to printing or may be printed and then completed for submission. If completing the form on screen please note that you will be required to create an electronic signature file when you reach the signature field. This is required to ensure an authenticated electronic signature that is password protected. If you elect to skip the electronic signature, please print out the form and sign it prior to submission. The form cannot be submitted electronically and must be submitted in hard copy form.  It is not necessary that you hand deliver the form and transcripts.  It is permissible to submit the form and transcripts either via the pony or through the U.S. mail.

ADDITIONAL NOTES FOR CONTRACTED FULL-TIME INSTRUCTIONAL STAFF:  If you are applying for both the advanced degree payment and an incentive please advise our office of such when you submit your incentive request form via email.

If you hold the Basic Incentive and have now earned a Master’s Degree, you will lose the Basic Incentive and, instead, begin payment for the Master’s Stipend. Once you earn 15 semester hours and/or 300 inservice points beyond the Master’s Degree, you will be eligible to reapply for the Basic Incentive.

Payment is only provided for the highest advanced degree that you are eligible for and not for multiple degrees (example:  cannot receive payment for both a master's and a specialist degree; cannot receive payment if have two masters, etc.)

NEW HIRES/REHIRES ON OR AFTER 7/1/2011

Per FL Statute 1012.22(1)(c)(3), payment for advanced degrees will be provided if the degree is held in the area of certification shown on the Florida certificate and/or if the degree major is in an area of Education.  Example:  Master's degree in history and certified in Social Science; or master's degree in Curriculum & Instruction.  To determine if your degree matches the certification held on your FL Department of Education teaching certificate, please view a listing of the Certification Acceptable Majors

Commonly Asked Questions

The School Board of Broward County provides Incentive Awards for teachers who take courses or earn inservice points following their last degree (Bachelor's or Master's degree only). Teachers holding a Specialist or Doctorate degree are not eligible.

IMPORTANT NOTES:
If you hold the Basic Incentive and have now earned a Master’s Degree, you will lose the Basic Incentive and, instead, begin payment for the Master’s Stipend. Once you earn 15 semester hours and/or 300 inservice points beyond the Master’s Degree, you will be eligible to reapply for the Basic Incentive.

Note:  If using the district's professional development, participation hours are not permitted to be used.  Only professional development appropriate for instructional recertification can be used for this purpose.

To receive the incentive, you must be a part of the teacher bargaining unit, have completed three years of consecutive full-time teaching in Broward (does not include private and charter schools), and hold a five-year professional certificate.

If you terminate your employment with the district and subsequently return, your entitlement will NOT automatically be reinstated.

PLEASE READ INFORMATION BELOW PRIOR TO SUBMITTING THE INCENTIVE REQUEST FORM

Any questions after reviewing the information, email certificationrequests@browardschools.com

FORM: INCENTIVE AWARD APPLICATION 2024-25 SCHOOL YEAR 

TYPE	AMOUNT	REQUIREMENTS
Basic Incentive	$2,000	15 semester hours and/or 300 inservice points earned after the Bachelor or Master's Degree
Advanced Incentive	$2,700	30 semester hours and/or 600 inservice points earned after the Master's Degree; OR must be receiving the Basic Incentive and have 15 semester hours and/or 300 inservice points earned after the start date of the Basic Incentive and after the conferral date of the Master's Degree (points and/or courses cannot be more than 10 years old). Must have 10 years Florida public school teaching experience.

TIMELINES:

• Coursework and Inservice must be completed by September 1st  **Transcripts for any coursework being used for incentive award eligibility MUST be submitted at the time the request form is submitted. If you are using inservice points, they must be posted to your inservice record.  Applications received with insufficient points will be denied. 
• Applications must be received between April 1 and September 15 as per Article 21 of the BTU Contract. NOTE: All coursework and/or inservice used toward incentive eligibility must have been completed by September 1st. Applications received outside of these dates will be returned.
• Status letters confirming or denying your award are sent out via email once a four week processing period has passed after receipt of your request.

CRITERIA:

• If you are using inservice points, there is no need to submit your inservice report as it will be printed by our office at the time of your evaluation. NOTE: When accessing My Learning Plan to review your inservice record you must select "View Full Transcript" from the options in My Learning Plan. If you do not select the "View Full Transcript" option the default inservice report view will display inservice within specific categories that may result in a duplication of points in your inservice total. Remember that participation hours cannot be used towards qualifying for the incentive award.
• If you are using college coursework, a copy of the transcripts must be uploaded with your request. Not all coursework is permissible. Courses acceptable for the professional and for the specialization areas of certificate requirements are acceptable. For a listing of appropriate course types, please go to: http://www.fldoe.org/edcert/renew.asp.
• If approved, payment will be retroactive to the beginning of the school year. 

INCENTIVE AWARDS DO NOT NEED TO BE RENEWED.
AUTHORITY: COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT ARTICLE XXI(A) and (B)