Last Updated on February 4, 2026 1:10 pm
BOONE, N.C. — As a nationally recognized leader in teacher education, Appalachian State University remains the top alma mater for National Board Certified Teachers (NBCT) for the 10th consecutive year.
The national certification — the top credential for working teachers — is based on a rigorous performance-based assessment that typically takes one to three years to complete and measures what accomplished teachers and counselors should know and be able to do.
App State topped the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards’ list of “Top 50 Alma Maters by Total Number of NBCTs” for 2025, with 2,461 alumni having earned the national credential to date.
“This remarkable, decade‑long distinction speaks volumes about the dedication, expertise and ongoing professional commitment of our graduates,” said Dr. Melba Spooner, dean of App State’s Reich College of Education (RCOE).
“Through our unwavering dedication to student success, service and academic innovation, App State continues to shape the future of education — one nationally certified educator at a time,” she added.
App State partners with alliance to help NC educators achieve certification
RCOE’s Office of Partnerships and Engagement collaborated with the state’s Northwest Regional Education Service Alliance (NWRESA) in 2020 to create NBCTApps (National Board Certified Teacher-Apps) — a joint professional development program to help North Carolina educators achieve their National Board Certification. The program provides professional development and mentoring sessions for NBCT candidates.
When Mandy Keziah ’06 ’09, a media coordinator at Westwood Elementary School in Ashe County Schools, began her NBCT journey, she was overwhelmed by the process, she shared.
“The NBCT sessions offered by App State provided me with the confidence to get started and guidance along the way,” she said.
For alumna Jillian Baldwin ’14, a literacy specialist at Ashe County Schools’ Mountain View Elementary, the most impactful part of the support sessions was collaborating and learning from others who were certified in her area.
“The guidance from the App State NBCT mentors helped facilitate purposeful conversations that strengthened my work and ultimately led to more meaningful outcomes for my students,” said Baldwin.
North Carolina continues to lead the nation in the number of teachers who possess the National Board Certification credential — since 1987, 25,847 educators have earned the certification. In 2025, 835 North Carolina teachers gained the endorsement. Nationally, 5,254 teachers earned certification in 2024–25, raising the total among all states to over 145,000. In addition, 3,477 teachers nationally achieved recertification, including 838 board-certified teachers in North Carolina.
North Carolina accounts for nearly one-fifth (18%) of all teachers nationally who are certified by the teaching standards organization.
App State was founded in 1899 as a teachers college and continues to have one of the largest teacher education programs in North Carolina. School systems in almost all 100 counties of the state employ at least one graduate of App State’s Reich College of Education.
