Salary Differential Information
Salary Differential Workshop Notes (10/21/25)
For those of you interested in learning more about applying for salary differential, please read the information below. All of the information was attained at a virtual workshop hosted by UFT specialists on 10/21/25.
Salary differentials are pay increases based on academic credit/degrees beyond your master’s degree.
When submitting your salary differential application, you only need to apply for the highest differential you qualify for. You do not need to apply for every differential along the way.
If you’re new to the DOE and qualify for a differential, you have six months from your start date to apply and receive retro pay.
Differential codes:
C1: Base salary (Bachelor’s degree)
C1+PD: Teachers hired before 1970
C2: Bachelor’s degree +30 credits (no Master’s degree)
C2+ID: Bachelor’s +60 credits (no Master’s degree)
C2+PD: Bachelor’s + Master’s OR Bachelor’s + 36 credits in an approved area of specialization
C2+ID+PD: Bachelor’s + 60 credits (including your Master’s degree OR 36 credits in an approved area of specialization).
MA+30 C6: Work experience for trade licenses or BA+60 for other stipulated licenses.
MA+30 C6+PD: Bachelor’s, Master’s, and 30 additional credits.
For excess credits earned before the conferral date of your Bachelor’s, you must contact the college and have them write a letter with the school’s seal identifying the number of credits needed and the number of excess credits you had. This should be signed by the school’s registrar.
Anyone who has a 60 credit master’s degree should apply for the C2+ID+PD differential.
If you are a teacher hired or rehired on or after Sept. 1, 2019, then you must obtain a minimum of 18 A+ credits in order to earn your salary differential, unless you have already attained an additional doctorate or an additional master’s in an approved related area as determined by the Joint Accreditation Committee (JAC).
If you are a teacher hired on or after Sept. 1, 2017, but before Sept. 1, 2019, then you must obtain a minimum of 6 A+ credits, unless you earned your salary differential before Sept. 1, 2019.
If you are a teacher hired before Sept. 1, 2017, then you are not required to use A+ credits to obtain your salary differential. If you choose to submit A+ credits toward your salary differential, you must obtain a minimum of 6 A+ credits.”
Acceptable credits for salary differentials include: coursework from regional accredited universities, CLEP exams, in service credits offered by NYSUT
You may earn up to 12 credits worth of CLEP exams. However, you must make sure that there is ZERO overlap between your CLEP test(s) and your course credits. It is the DOE’s decision whether or not they accept your CLEP credits. Your CLEP credits cannot reflect or resemble any previous coursework you have completed.
School secretaries and paraprofessionals can take CLEP exams as well.
School Psychologists and Social Workers: If you are applying additional graduate credits towards your first differential, they must not be credits that were used toward or required for your Master’s Degree.
Guidance Counselors have one differential.
Requirements:
- An approved doctorate from a regionally approved college/university, OR
- An approved Master’s degree and completion of 30 semester hours of approved college/university credits above the Bachelor’s. These credits are in addition to the Master’s, OR
- A 60 credit Master’s degree in guidance counseling, OR
- A Master’s degree in guidance or counseling with additional coursework in guidance or counseling or special education totaling 60 graduate credits. All credits must be earned after the conferral of the Bachelor’s degree, and including those contained in the Master’s degree.
You cannot apply additional graduate credits that were used toward or required for your Master’s Degree.
School Secretaries are eligible for two kinds of salary differentials - educational and professional.
Professional Differential = Educational differential + 30 credits in any combination of the following areas:
- typing
- word processing
- shorthand, speed writing and/or steno typing
- office machines and/or office management
- computer science and/or computer studies
- business administration and/or business English, finance, law, management, organization, statistics, and/or business writing
- accounting, bookkeeping and/or commercial arithmetic, banking, budgeting, and/or money management
- one foreign language (minimum 6 credits, maximum 12 credits in one language may be offered toward the differential)
Per Diem/Substitutes: If you are an F, Z, or O status employee, you cannot use the online salary application. You must fill out the physical salary differential application form.
Z or F status employees are the only per diems able to apply for a salary differential.
Once you apply for your salary differential, you cannot make any changes or edits in your application. You can only make updates if your application is rejected.
Status: Pending means your application is pending review.
Status: In Process means the DOE is reviewing your application.
Status: Finalized means the application has been processed and posted to the payroll system.
Status: Rejected is self-explanatory. You will receive an email about lack of supporting documentation and how to resubmit. You will be given a warning after 15 days if you’ve done nothing and a follow-up (and last) warning an additional 15 days after the first one. If you have not resubmitted within that 30 day period, you will need to resubmit your entire application.
The majority of the time salary differential applications are rejected because the conferral date is not on the transcript.
Tips from UFT specialists:
1) Stay away from California schools when pursuing differential credits. Credits are usually quarter hours. When converted to semester credits, you receive less credit. California also has their own professional development courses (similar to ASPDP) but they cannot be used for differential.
2) Many vendors offer professional development courses through colleges, especially in Queens. These courses will not be accepted towards your salary differential because they are considered “third party” vendors.
3) All coursework must be taken through a regionally accredited college/university.
4) Continuing education credits are not accepted.
5) Credits from vocational skills like APEX Tech are not accepted.
If your application is rejected, there should be a deadline to resubmit. If you do not resubmit your salary differential application before the deadline ends, you have to resubmit the whole thing and potentially wait up to 20 weeks.
If taking ASPDP credits for your +30, you can upload one transcript that has all ASPDP courses. You do not need to upload proof of each individual class.