Georgia teachers can qualify for raises averaging $6,000 a year by earning a masters degree.

Until now educators could get their degree from practically any university across the country.

That includes unaccredited for-profit institutions.

But starting this year teachers will only get raises if their degrees come from nationally accredited schools.

Kelly Henson is with the Georgia Professional Standards Commission, which oversees teacher certification.

"Frequently the degrees are in a subject or a field that's totally unrelated to what the educator might be doing. And with some frequency the degrees come from institutions that may not offer programs with the level of rigor that we would think would have an impact on educator performance."

Teachers already enrolled in non-acreditted programs will still be able to get the raise.

The new rule takes effect July 15th.

Tags: Georgia Professional Standards Commission, Georgia public schools, advanced degrees, Kelly Henson, teacher raises, for-profit colleges