Montana guide

Montana teacher salary schedules, lane changes and license renewal

Montana keeps renewal simple: 60 professional development units every five years, with college credit converted at a fixed rate. Pay is another story, because each district bargains its own schedule, and Billings and Great Falls count quarter credits, workshops and CEUs in noticeably different ways.

By TeacherPayGuide editorsPublished · 9 min read

Short answer

How do Montana teachers renew a license and move up the salary schedule?

Most Montana educator licenses renew every five years with 60 professional development units (PDUs), or a mix of PDUs and college credit: one semester credit is worth 15 PDUs and one quarter credit is worth 10. There is no state salary schedule; districts bargain lanes and steps with their teachers.

Source: Montana Office of Public Instruction, Renew, update or advance a license. Checked .

TeacherPayGuide is not affiliated with or endorsed by Montana's state education agency or any Montana school district. This guide summarizes published state rules and district documents as read on ; the agency and your district decide what counts for you. It is general information, not legal or employment advice. Disclaimer Report an error

How do you renew a Montana teaching license?

The Office of Public Instruction (OPI) issues and renews Montana educator licenses. Its renewal page sets one standard for Class 1, 2, 3, 4A, 4B/4C and 6 licenses: "60 professional development units (PDUs), or any combination of PDUs and semester/quarter college credits."

  • Conversion: each semester credit is worth 15 PDUs, and each quarter credit is worth 10 PDUs. Four semester credits alone cover the full 60.
  • Earning window: under ARM 10.57.215, as the OPI page explains it, units must be earned during the license's five years of validity, through August 31 of the year it expires. OPI's example: a license that expires June 30, 2026 was issued July 1, 2021, so units earned from July 1, 2021 through August 31, 2026 count.
  • When to apply: any time after January 1 of the expiration year, online through the TeachMT system.
  • Records: keep your original PDU certificates in case of an audit. TeachMT can store them.
  • Pre-approval: professional development that isn't already approved can be submitted to OPI's Professional Learning unit for approval.

Some license classes follow different rules. OPI notes that:

  • Class 5 licenses cannot be renewed.
  • Class 7 licenses renew through the tribe's plan.
  • Class 8 licenses need no PDUs.
  • A Class 4 license's first renewal must include career and technical education curriculum and safety or liability content.

A license that expired on or before June 30, 2025 can't be renewed and must go through reinstatement instead. Our guides to quarter versus semester units and clock hours, CEUs and semester credits cover the conversions, and the license renewal hub compares states.

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Licenses expire June 30, but the earning window runs to August 31. That gives you a final summer to finish units, though applying early avoids a gap.

How do Montana teachers move to a higher salary lane?

Montana has no statewide teacher salary schedule. Districts set pay through collective bargaining or district policy, and the state shapes those decisions mainly through funding. MCA 20-9-324 creates an incentive: a district qualifies for an enhanced quality educator payment if its teacher base pay meets a legislative goal. That goal has two parts:

  • A base-pay multiple: starting pay must be at least 11 times the quality educator payment amount set in 20-9-306.
  • A rising percentage of average pay: starting pay must also be at least a set share of the prior year's teacher average pay. The share is 62% for fiscal 2026 and climbs each year to 70% from fiscal 2030 on.

The statute defines "teacher base pay" as the lowest salary for a full-time beginning teacher set in the collective bargaining agreement or district policy, not counting bonuses, stipends or extended duty. "Teacher average pay" is total teacher compensation divided by full-time-equivalent teachers. Districts report the data by December 1.

The incentive pushes districts to raise starting pay, but it says nothing about lanes. Each contract decides what moves a teacher across columns, so quarter credits, CEUs and workshops can count differently from one district to the next. For the general mechanics, read how lane changes work and which units count.

What do the largest Montana districts require?

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Billings Public Schools

Read the full Billings guide →

The 2026-2028 master labor agreement with the Billings Education Association runs July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2028. Its 2026-27 salary matrix is built on an index.

  • Lanes: BA, BA30, BA60, BA90, BA105, MA, MA30, MA45, PhD; steps 0 to 15.
  • What counts: credits earned after the degree while holding a Class I to IV license; credits needed for an initial Class II license do not count, and duplicate coursework needs the Superintendent's prior approval.
  • Training: approved non-college training can earn quarter-credit equivalents at 10 classroom hours each, with prior approval; after hire, 10 hours of CEUs equal one quarter hour.
  • Timing: at most one lane change a year; notify by February 1 and again by August 1, and finish credits by September 1; an official transcript is due by September 1, or grade slips pending a transcript by November 1.
Source: Billings Public Schools, Labor information
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Great Falls Public Schools

Read the full Great Falls guide →

The 2025-2027 teachers' collective bargaining agreement uses smaller lanes based on credit hours from an accredited college or university.

  • Lanes: BA, BA+10, BA+20, MA, MA+10, MA+20, MA+30.
  • What counts: "Fifteen (15) quarter hours or ten (10) semester credit hours" advance one column, if started after the degree and tied to the teaching field, an assignment, instructional strategies, special education, or an approved degree or endorsement program; up to 4 semester hours per lane may fall outside those areas.
  • Not counted: credits that a transcript labels as PD units or CEUs.
  • Deadline: official transcripts by December 10 for pay retroactive to the start of the year; a prior credit approval form is preferred.
Source: Great Falls Public Schools, CBAs and handbooks

The two districts handle CEUs very differently. Billings converts approved training and CEUs into quarter-hour credit for lane purposes, while Great Falls excludes credits listed as PD units or CEUs. A course that counts toward your 60 PDUs may not count toward a lane, and only your district decides that.

Both contracts add rules worth knowing before you plan a year of coursework:

  • Billings committee review. A district professional development committee, described in an appendix to the agreement, approves non-university training for lane credit. Submissions are audited by September 30. A teacher whose submission does not qualify loses eligibility for one year, then two years for a repeat.
  • Billings degree stipend. A completed master's or doctorate is placed in the matching column and also earns a stipend under the agreement.
  • Great Falls placement. New hires can be credited with up to 10 years of experience if placement documents arrive by December 10; otherwise placement applies going forward.
  • Great Falls limits. Teachers move no more than one vertical step a year, and college credit earned through a workshop counts only when the teacher paid for it and completed additional coursework.

Full district guides for Montana

BillingsBillings teachers move across nine lanes, BA through PhD, with credits earned after a degree and approved by Human Resources. Notify HR by February 1, confirm by August 1 and earn the credits by September 1 for a new lane at the opening of school; one lane change is allowed a year.Great FallsGreat Falls teachers move one lane to the right for every 10 semester hours (or 15 quarter hours) of accredited college credit earned after their degree and related to their teaching. Credits a transcript labels as professional development units or continuing education are not approved, and transcripts in by December 10 pay back to the start of the year.

Before you enroll

  1. Find your expiration date in TeachMT. Your earning window runs from the issue date through August 31 of the expiration year.
  2. Count your units both ways. 60 PDUs renew the license; a lane needs credits your contract accepts. Our renewal versus salary credit guide compares the two tests.
  3. Check semester versus quarter. One semester credit is 15 PDUs and one quarter credit is 10; Great Falls also treats 10 semester hours as equal to 15 quarter hours for a lane.
  4. Get prior approval. Billings recommends approval before training and requires it for duplicate coursework; Great Falls prefers its prior credit approval form.
  5. Meet the transcript date. Billings wants credits finished by September 1, and Great Falls pays retroactively for transcripts in by December 10.

The provider directory groups semester-credit providers by need, and the comparison table shows their costs and formats side by side.

Montana questions teachers ask

How many PDUs do I need to renew a Montana teaching license?

Sixty PDUs over the five-year license, or a combination of PDUs and college credit, for Class 1, 2, 3, 4A, 4B/4C and 6 licenses.

How many PDUs is a college credit worth in Montana?

One semester credit is worth 15 PDUs and one quarter credit is worth 10 PDUs, according to OPI.

Can I count PDUs earned after my license expires?

Yes, but only through August 31 of the expiration year. OPI counts units earned from the issue date through that August 31.

Does Montana have a state teacher salary schedule?

No. Districts set schedules through bargaining or policy. State law ties an extra funding payment to a district's starting pay meeting a legislative goal.

Do CEUs count for a lane change in Montana districts?

It depends on the contract. Billings converts 10 CEU hours into one quarter hour after hire, while Great Falls does not approve credits listed on a transcript as PD units or CEUs.

Sources

  1. Renew, update or advance a license, Montana Office of Public Instruction. Checked
  2. ARM 10.57.215, Professional development and renewal requirements, Administrative Rules of Montana. Checked
  3. MCA 20-9-324, Definitions and teacher pay incentive, Montana Code Annotated 2025. Checked
  4. Labor information, Billings Public Schools. Checked
  5. 2026-2028 BEA Master Labor Agreement, Billings Public Schools. Checked
  6. 2026-27 BEA Salary Matrix, Billings Public Schools. Checked
  7. CBAs and handbooks, Great Falls Public Schools. Checked
  8. Teachers' Collective Bargaining Agreement 2025-2027, Great Falls Public Schools. Checked

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

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