Denver Public Schools salary schedule: how teachers move to a higher column

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How is the DPS teacher salary schedule organized?

The Teacher and SSP Step and Grade Schedule for 2026-27, effective August 1, 2026, has 20 steps down the side and seven numbered grades across the top:

1. BA
2. BA+18
3. BA+36/MA
4. MA+18
5. MA+36
6. MA+54
7. Doctorate

Annual figures assume a 1,488-hour, 186-day year. The agreement calls the vertical movement "steps" and the horizontal movement "lanes," while the schedule itself uses "grades," so a Denver teacher may hear all three words for the same idea. Beside the main grid the schedule also prints four "ghost grades," labeled 6-1, 6-2, 7-1 and 7-2, attached to the two highest grades.

Note the third grade. A bachelor's plus 36 credits and a master's land in the same place, which means a teacher who finishes a master's after already reaching BA+36 does not move for the degree alone. The degree's value comes later: under the agreement, credit-based movement beyond BA+36/MA requires a master's, and the Doctorate grade requires a doctorate. Our guide to a master's versus credits covers that trade-off in general terms.

Steps come once a year. Each August 1, an educator moves down one step if the previous year's end-of-year evaluation was "approaching" or better. New hires receive credit for up to ten years of outside experience, or up to twelve if hired since August 1, 2019 into an assignment the Implementation Team has marked hard-to-fill.

Which units count toward a DPS column change?

Section 38-3-3-1 lists the sources of credit for salary advancement:

• University credits from a college or university with regional accreditation, earned after the bachelor's in a birth-through-21 content or focus area, and completed after your most recent and highest degree was conferred;
• Professional Development Units (PDUs), including district-sponsored PDUs delivered by outside providers;
• Continuing Education Units approved by the district under guidelines the Implementation Team sets;
• required DPS English Language Acquisition (ELA) courses, at 15 contact hours per DPS credit, or university credit paid for by DPS on some courses, but not both for one class;
• Modules 1 through 9 of the Equity Experience, worth the equivalent of two credits.

These can be combined. University credit must come from a DPS-approved institution and apply to your current or a future role, or a related educational field. The "after your highest degree" condition is the one that catches people: hours earned inside a master's program, or before it was conferred, do not carry forward once the degree is posted.

PDUs are DPS's own route. Each one combines study, demonstration and reflection over at least 30 hours for two credits or 45 hours for three, laid out in an approved PDU proposal. Completing an approved PDU is enough documentation to apply for the lane change. Teachers can earn up to six PDU credits a year, and when a course is offered for either PDU or university credit, you pick one. Required professional development does not qualify, apart from the ELA courses. Teachers who cannot move further, such as those at MA+54, at the Doctorate grade, or at BA+36 without a master's, receive a payment per completed PDU instead.

Two lane moves need no credit. Ten years in the DCTA bargaining unit within the last fifteen earns one Longevity lane, and an Advanced License or National Board Certification earns another. Each is capped at MA+54, counted one lane to the right of where your credits place you, and usable once per career. The agreement's own example: a teacher hired with a master's starts at BA+36/MA, earns National Board and moves to MA+18, gains Longevity and moves to MA+36, then adds 18 credits and reaches MA+54. For the general rules on what districts accept, see which units count.

Does DPS require approval before you take a course?

For a PDU, yes, by design. PDUs run only under an approved proposal, applications follow guidelines the Implementation Team adopts by consensus, and a designated district leader on professional development approves and manages them.

For a university course, Article 38 describes no pre-approval form. The test is applied when you submit: the institution must be one DPS approves, and the course must fit your current or future role. Because that judgment happens after you have paid, check with the district's Office of Talent before enrolling in anything outside an obvious teaching field. Our piece on pre-approval forms explains why asking first is cheap insurance.

When are transcripts due, and when does the new column take effect?

Article 38 sets no annual filing window. Section 38-3-4 puts the responsibility on the employee to start the request, and says resulting movement takes effect no later than 30 days after the official transcript is submitted and approved. The clock therefore starts at approval, not at the date grades post.

Example: a teacher at BA+18 finishes 18 more qualifying university credits in July and requests the lane change with an official transcript. Once the district approves the transcript, the move to BA+36/MA should apply within 30 days. Step movement is separate and still happens on August 1. The agreement does not describe retroactive pay for late requests, so submit promptly; our note on transcript deadlines has general timing advice.

Do the same units count toward Colorado license renewal?

Usually. Colorado renews a professional teacher license every seven years with 90 contact hours or six semester hours of professional development, including at least one hour on behavioral health and one on students with disabilities. The Colorado Department of Education converts one semester hour to 15 contact hours. A three-credit university course taken for a DPS lane change therefore covers half of the renewal requirement on its own. See the Colorado renewal rules and the full Colorado state guide.

Where can DPS teachers earn graduate-level units?

Every district, DPS 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 DPS's human resources office is the safest record to have before you pay.

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)
• Connected Classroom Courses: self-paced, letter grade, units through CSU Pueblo; $389 + university fee for 3 credits (price notes)
• Credits for Teachers: self-paced, 6 months, units through Valley City State, Adams State, UMass Global or CSU Pueblo; from $349 for 3 credits (price notes)
• Dominican CA Online: self-paced, units through Dominican University of California; $477 for 3 credits (price notes)
• For Teachers By Teachers: self-paced, units through CSU Pueblo or UMass Global; $285 CSU Pueblo 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 DPS has approved a provider or course; only the district can do that. TeacherPayGuide has commercial relationships with some providers it lists; how listings work.

Sources

1. Collective Bargaining Agreement, School District No. 1 in the City and County of Denver and the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, 2025-2028, Article 38, copy hosted by the Denver Classroom Teachers Association. Checked November 11, 2026
2. Teacher and SSP Step and Grade Schedule 2026-2027, effective August 1, 2026, Denver Public Schools, copy hosted by the Denver Classroom Teachers Association. Checked November 11, 2026
3. Renewal checklist, professional teacher license, Colorado Department of Education. Checked November 11, 2026

Reviewed November 11, 2026 by TeacherPayGuide editors.Report an error