Graduate Credits for Salary Advancement: The "If You're Already Taking Credits" Checklist
A lot of school-based professionals take graduate courses for salary advancement for one main reason:
To move across the salary guide and increase their pay.
That makes sense. Depending on your school district's salary schedule, earning additional graduate credits may help you move into a new salary lane or column.
But if you're already putting in the time, paying for graduate credits, and planning coursework around an already-busy school schedule, there's another question worth asking:
Could the graduate courses you're already taking also count toward something bigger?
For school-based SLPs, OTs, PTs, educators, school psychologists, counselors, and other professionals interested in autism and neurodiversity, they may.
Therapy Advance Courses offers an Autism and Neurodiversity in Schools Graduate Certificate of Completion that allows approved graduate credits to work toward a focused area of professional growth while you continue working toward your own salary advancement goals.
Before choosing your next graduate course, take five minutes to check where your credits are actually taking you.
The 5-Minute Graduate Credit Check
If you're taking graduate courses to move up your school district's salary guide, ask yourself:
Does my district accept these graduate credits for salary advancement?
Do I know how many graduate credits I need to reach my next salary lane or column?
Am I choosing courses that are relevant to the students I actually support?
Could these graduate credits also count toward a focused Graduate Certificate of Completion?
Do I know which courses I should take next so I'm not choosing credits randomly?
If you answered "no" or "I'm not sure" to any of these questions, that's worth looking into before registering for your next graduate course.
You may already be planning to earn the credits. The goal is to make those credits work as intentionally as possible.
Graduate Courses That Support More Than Salary Advancement
There is an important distinction between taking a graduate course simply because you need credits and choosing coursework that fits into a larger professional plan.
Ideally, your graduate coursework can do both.
You can work toward the graduate credits you need for your district's salary schedule while choosing courses that strengthen skills you use with students in real K–12 settings.
And, when you select approved courses, those credits can also work toward the Autism and Neurodiversity in Schools Graduate Certificate of Completion.
Instead of collecting unrelated graduate credits, you're building a more focused path around supporting autistic and neurodivergent students.
How the Autism and Neurodiversity in Schools Graduate Certificate of Completion Works
To earn the Autism and Neurodiversity in Schools Graduate Certificate of Completion, you must complete 15 graduate credits from the approved course list.
The certificate path includes:
The required Neurodiversity: Creating Positive Constructs for Every Student course
One approved sensory foundations course
Three approved application/elective courses
Submission of your application after completing all 15 graduate credits
A $79 application fee
Your Graduate Certificate of Completion issued after completion and approval
Important: Please apply for the Graduate Certificate of Completion only after you have completed all 15 required graduate credits.
Why Check Before Choosing Your Next Graduate Course?
Because "this course gives me graduate credits" and "this course fits my bigger professional and salary advancement plan" are not necessarily the same thing.
If your district accepts your graduate credits for salary advancement, an individual course may help you work toward moving across the salary guide.
But planning your courses intentionally may allow those same credits to serve another purpose: building knowledge in an area directly connected to your work with students.
That's the idea behind the Graduate Certificate of Completion.
You're already taking the courses.
You're already doing the work.
Why not check whether the credits you're earning can fit into a more intentional plan?
Can Graduate Credits Increase Your Salary as a School-Based Therapist or Educator?
Depending on your school district, they may.
Many school salary schedules include different lanes, columns, or levels based on education and graduate credits. Moving into another lane may result in a higher salary, but every district has its own requirements.
Before enrolling in any graduate course specifically for salary advancement, check with your district or HR department to confirm:
Whether the graduate credits will be accepted
How many credits you need for your next lane or column
Whether there are restrictions on the type of coursework accepted
What documentation you'll need to submit
When salary adjustments take effect
This is an important step because salary advancement policies vary by district.
Make Your Graduate Credits Part of a Bigger Plan
If you're going to spend your time and money earning graduate credits, it's worth knowing exactly what you're working toward.
Maybe your goal is moving to the next salary lane.
Maybe it's developing stronger skills for supporting autistic and neurodivergent students.
Maybe it's earning a Graduate Certificate of Completion.
Or maybe it's all three.
The important part is choosing your coursework intentionally rather than realizing later that a different course could have moved you closer to another goal at the same time.
More Resources for Increasing Your Income in Schools
If you're still figuring out how graduate credits, salary advancement, and your school district's salary schedule fit into your long-term income plan, these resources can help:
Learn about practical ways school-based professionals can increase their income, including strategies that don't necessarily require leaving the school setting.
Compare earning additional income through side work with using graduate credits to potentially increase your base salary.
See why understanding your salary schedule and graduate credit opportunities can matter over the course of your career.
Already Taking Graduate Credits? Check Your Certificate Options First.
If you're already planning to take graduate courses for salary advancement, take a few minutes before registering for the next one.
Look at your district's requirements.
Look at the courses you need.
Then look at whether those same graduate credits could also count toward the Autism and Neurodiversity in Schools Graduate Certificate of Completion.
You may be able to make the coursework you were already planning to complete feel a lot more intentional.
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