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

TeacherPayGuide is not affiliated with or endorsed by Fairfax County Public Schools. This guide summarizes the district's published documents as read on November 11, 2026; those documents and the district's human resources office decide your placement. It is general information, not legal or employment advice. Disclaimer · Report an error

How is the FCPS teacher salary schedule organized?

FCPS posts its salary scales on one Human Resources page, and every scale there covers July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027. The School Board adopted the FY27 budget on May 21, 2026. For employees represented by Fairfax Education Unions it combined a market scale adjustment with a step increase, and it added one new step to the top of every scale.

There is no single teacher grid. The district publishes teacher scales for 195-, 199-, 204-, 209- and 219-day contracts, each in three versions (Standard, Extended, and Additional Teaching Assignment for a sixth period), plus a 260-day standard scale. The columns never change from one scale to the next: BA, BA +15, BA +30, MA, MA +30 and PhD.

Each grid lists 26 steps beside a column headed "Initial Placement (Yrs Exp)," which turns prior experience into a starting step. Zero years places a new hire on step 1. One, two or three years all land on step 2; five through seven years land on step 4; 15 or 16 years land on step 12; 30 years reaches step 26. Starting July 1, 2026, an approved step increase applies at the beginning of the employee's contract.

To see what a column change is worth, read across a row instead of down it. On most rows of the FY27 scales, the largest jump between neighboring columns sits between BA +30 and MA, which is why Fairfax teachers who already hold 30 extra hours often weigh a master's degree against more stand-alone courses. Our guides on reading a salary schedule and on a master's versus extra credits set out that comparison.

Which units count toward an FCPS column change?

Part IV of Form HR-353 defines what fills the BA +15, BA +30 and MA +30 columns, and it names two kinds of credit:

• Graduate-level credits shown on a college or university transcript.
• FCPS Academy credits from the district's own Educator Academy course program for contracted instructional staff.

The form lists nothing else, so undergraduate coursework has no place in the plus columns. Timing is the second test. Credits toward BA +15 or BA +30 must be completed after the date the bachelor's degree was conferred, and credits toward MA +30 after the master's conferral date. A graduate-level course finished a semester before your master's was awarded does not count toward MA +30, however relevant it was.

Part IV carries one exception. A teacher who seeks MA +30 because they hold more than one conferred master's degree does not have to list individual credits. The MA and PhD columns themselves rest on a conferred degree, and Part II of the form asks for every degree you hold with its conferral date.

The form cites FCPS Regulation 4621 as the governing rule. The regulation's text was not posted on the district site when this guide was checked, so every rule above comes from the form itself.

Does FCPS require approval before you take a course?

No. HR-353 is filed after the work is done, and it says an employee may apply "at any time the employee becomes eligible." Nothing on the form asks for sign-off before you enroll.

What the form does demand is completeness. Its attestation warns that leaving credits off the list, or failing to supply official transcripts, will lead to disapproval. The finished form goes to the Department of Human Resources, Licensure Office, Suite 1150 at 8115 Gatehouse Road in Falls Church. Two offices then handle it: the Licensure Office approves or disapproves the request, and HR Business Services sets the new salary, pay step and effective date. The office copy carries a line worth keeping in your files: "This copy amends your contract."

Since no one reviews a course in advance, choosing qualifying coursework is the teacher's job. Before enrolling outside FCPS, make sure the course will appear as graduate-level on an official transcript from the institution; our article on whether a district will accept a course lists the questions to ask.

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

There is no annual cutoff in Fairfax. The timing rule is printed on the form: approved salary adjustments "shall be implemented the month following approval," and salary credit "shall not be made retroactive."

That rule has a practical edge. The pay clock starts at approval, not when the last course ended or when you mailed the form, so a transcript left sitting in a drawer costs a month of the higher column for every month it waits. Our transcript deadlines article explains how the gap between a posted grade and an official transcript can push a raise back.

A worked example: a teacher on BA +15 finishes her thirtieth graduate-level credit since her bachelor's conferral at the end of a summer session. She lists all 30 credits in Part IV, has official transcripts sent and submits HR-353. If the Licensure Office approves it in August, BA +30 pay begins in September. Had she filed in November instead, September and October would stay at the BA +15 rate.

Do the same units count toward Virginia license renewal?

For the most part, yes. Virginia renews a ten-year license with 270 professional development points, and college credit earns 30 points per semester hour, so one three-credit graduate-level course yields 90 points and nine semester hours cover the full requirement. The Virginia renewal rules explain the other point options and the 180-point requirement that still applies to a five-year license.

FCPS Academy courses serve both purposes. The Educator Academy describes its courses as usable toward Virginia license renewal and toward a salary scale increase, with participants earning Academy credit or recertification points.

The overlap runs one way only. Virginia does not require college coursework for renewal, so points from conferences or curriculum work can renew a license, yet none of them appear among the credits HR-353 accepts. Our article on renewal credit versus salary credit covers that split, and the Virginia state guide compares Fairfax with other divisions.

Where can FCPS teachers earn graduate-level units?

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

Before you enroll: Form HR-353 asks for acceptable graduate-level credits, and FCPS decides which credits qualify. Units from the providers below are non-degree, so ask the Department of Human Resources in writing whether a course will count before you enroll.

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)
• CE Credits Online: self-paced, 180 days, units through Valley City State, Augustana, Adams State or Cal Poly Humboldt; from $449 for 3 credits (price notes)
• TLC Graduate Credits: self-paced, units through CSU Pueblo; $425 for 3 credits (price notes)
• Upward Teachers: self-paced, 1 to 6 months, letter grade, units through UMass Global; $240 sale for 3 credits (price notes)
• VESi: self-paced online, 2- or 3-unit courses on special-needs instruction, units through University of the Pacific; $444 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 FCPS 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. Form HR-353, Additional Salary Request (9/20), Fairfax County Public Schools. Checked November 11, 2026
2. FY27 salary scales, Fairfax County Public Schools. Checked November 11, 2026
3. Educator Academy course program, Fairfax County Public Schools (Internet Archive copy captured January 30, 2025; FCPS has since moved the page to its employee site). Checked November 11, 2026

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