Short answer
How do Aurora teachers move to a higher column on the salary schedule?
Aurora's schedule has 12 lanes, BA through DOC, and each 15 semester credits moves you one lane. Credits must be completed after your most recent and highest degree, come from a regionally accredited institution and be authorized for Colorado re-licensure. The raise starts the first day of the month after HR receives your official transcript.
Source: APS–AEA agreement, Article 12 (union-hosted copy). Checked .
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How is the Aurora teacher salary schedule organized?
Appendix A of the July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2028 agreement is the Educator Salary Schedule. It runs steps 1 to 25 across twelve lanes:
BA · BA 15 · BA 30 · BA 45 · BA 60 · MA · MA 30 · MA 45 · MA 60 · MA 75 · MA 90 · DOC
Notice the jump right after the master's. There is no MA 15 lane, so a teacher who finishes a master's needs 30 more semester credits before the next move, while later lanes come every 15. Pay on the schedule assumes 187 duty days for returning employees and 190 for those newly hired. The salary schedule reading guide shows how to find your cell.
A second table, Appendix A1, is the legacy schedule. When the current structure was introduced, eligible educators could elect in 2020-21 to stay on it, and a one-time chance to switch to Appendix A closed June 30, 2026. Appendix A1 sunsets with the 2030-31 school year, and educators still on it then remain at their 2029-30 step.
Two provisions in Article 11 affect where some staff start. Special Services Providers whose positions require a master's or higher for their CDE endorsement (school counselors, school social workers, speech-language pathologists and school psychologists) receive 15 additional credits toward lane advancement after initial placement. An educator with an Ed.S. in School Psychology is placed in the MA 90 lane. Outside experience for new hires is credited at the district's discretion.
Which units count toward an Aurora column change?
Article 12 lists the criteria. Credits must:
- be authorized for re-licensure credit in Colorado, and acceptable to the Colorado Department of Education for an added endorsement, license renewal or other state requirement;
- be completed after your most recent and highest degree was conferred;
- come from a regionally accredited, degree-granting four-year or two-year institution in the United States, or a four-year foreign institution approved by that country's ministry of education, with the study validated in English;
- if earned at a two-year institution, be completed after August 20, 2008 and be guaranteed to transfer to a Colorado four-year institution.
Since July 1, 2022, coursework required as a condition of employment in the district can be applied after you complete a higher degree. No credit may be used twice: a course counts either on its own or inside a degree program, not both.
The agreement also places the burden on the teacher. "It shall be the individual educator's responsibility to secure verification" that courses meet the criteria, it says. Programs and workshops specified by the Board and approved by CDE as equivalent to post-degree academic credit can count as well; evidence goes to the licensed professional development office. Aurora's units are semester credits, so quarter-system transcripts need converting; units that count walks through the usual tests.
Does Aurora require approval before you take a course?
Article 12 contains no pre-approval form for college coursework. Instead, the agreement makes eligibility your responsibility and sets objective tests: re-licensure authorization, accreditation and timing. Before enrolling, a practical check is whether the course is accepted by CDE for renewal and whether the institution meets the regional-accreditation rule. Board-specified workshops are the exception in practice, since they must be programs the Board has named and CDE has approved.
The will my district accept it checklist covers the questions worth putting to Human Resources when a course sits near the line.
When are transcripts due, and when does the new column take effect?
There is no annual filing window. A horizontal advance takes effect on the first day of the month following the month the transcript, or degree-conferring transcript, is submitted to the Human Resources Office. The increase is paid on the duty days left in your contract year from that date. If none remain, it starts on the first duty day of the next contract year.
Two scenarios show the effect. A transcript delivered on January 28 takes effect February 1. One delivered on February 2 waits until March 1, so a few days can cost a month of the higher rate. The agreement asks educators to get transcripts to HR "as soon as available." More on why this timing matters is in transcript deadlines.
Do the same units count toward Colorado license renewal?
By design, largely yes. Because Article 12 rejects any course that Colorado would not accept for re-licensure, nearly every credit that moves an Aurora lane can also count toward the 90 contact hours a professional license needs every seven years. CDE treats a semester hour as 15 contact hours, so six semester hours meet the full renewal requirement. The reverse is not automatic: renewal hours earned before your latest degree, or contact hours without college credit, may renew a license but not move a lane. The Colorado guide has the renewal rules, and the lane change explainer fills in the rest.
Where can Aurora teachers earn graduate-level units?
Every district, Aurora included, decides for itself whether a course counts for the purpose a teacher needs it for: a column move, a stipend, license renewal or an added endorsement. No provider, university or website can make that decision, so the rules above come first, and written approval from Aurora's human resources office is the safest record to have before you pay.
| Question | What Aurora says | What to look for on the provider's site |
|---|---|---|
| Type of unit | Aurora: Semester credits, 15 per lane; must count for Colorado re-licensure | Semester or quarter units, graduate-level or not, and the university named on the transcript and its accreditor |
| Grade | See units that count | Letter grade or pass/fail on the transcript |
| Deadline | Aurora: None; submit when the transcript is ready | Published grading and transcript-posting time, and any rush option |
| Approval | Aurora: No form in Article 12; the educator verifies eligibility | Course descriptions or syllabi you can attach to an approval form |
| Price | Not set by the district | All-in price per credit, including any university or first-course fee (compare) |
Graduate-level credit providers, listed with the same facts
With those rules in hand, compare providers on the same points. Providers listed on this site, each with the same facts:
- Teacher Friendly: self-paced online, units through University of the Pacific; $336 first course for 3 credits (price notes)
- Credits for Educators: self-paced online, units through University of the Pacific; $297 for 3 credits (price notes)
- Model Teaching: self-paced, 1 year, units through a choice of six universities, including University of the Pacific; $359 for 3 credits (price notes)
- PD Courses (University of La Verne): online or pdf, semester-based, units through University of La Verne; $420 for 3 credits (price notes)
- Teaching Channel: self-paced, units through a choice of eight universities; $489 for 3 credits (price notes)
- TLC Graduate Credits: self-paced, units through CSU Pueblo; $425 for 3 credits (price notes)
The provider directory lists 28 providers and programs by what teachers need them for, and Compare sets published prices for 16 of them side by side, with transcripts from 11 universities. A listing on this site does not mean Aurora has approved a provider or course; only the district can do that. TeacherPayGuide has commercial relationships with some providers it lists; how listings work.
Aurora salary questions teachers ask
How many credits does Aurora require to move one lane?
Fifteen semester credits per lane, from the bachelor's to the doctorate, completed after your most recent and highest degree.
Is there an MA 15 lane in Aurora Public Schools?
No. Appendix A goes from MA directly to MA 30, then adds lanes every 15 credits through MA 90 before DOC.
When does an Aurora lane change take effect?
On the first day of the month after the month HR receives your official transcript, paid on the duty days remaining in your contract year.
Do community college credits count in Aurora?
They can, if completed after August 20, 2008 at a regionally accredited U.S. institution and guaranteed to transfer to a Colorado four-year institution.
Where can Aurora teachers take graduate-level courses for salary credit or renewal?
Aurora decides which courses count, under the rules on this page, so check with human resources before you enroll. Providers that teachers compare include Teacher Friendly, Credits for Educators, Model Teaching, PD Courses (University of La Verne), Teaching Channel and TLC Graduate Credits. They differ in format, transcript university, grading time and price; the provider directory and the Compare page list 16 providers with the same facts for each.
Sources
- Agreement between the Board of Education of Aurora Public Schools and the Aurora Education Association, July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2028, union-hosted copy (Aurora Education Association). Checked
- Professional teacher license renewal checklist, Colorado Department of Education. Checked
Reviewed November 11, 2026 by TeacherPayGuide editors.Report an error