Driver Education Resources
Driver education is designed to help students develop good driving habits and be the safest they can possibly be on roadways. Driver education professionals provide high quality instruction both in the classroom and on Delaware roadways. Families and driving sponsors are partners in this instruction.
Driver education professionals prepare students for the next step in the graduated driver’s license (GDL) process. Families and driving sponsors are a young driver’s second driving teacher, after the driver education course is completed. The Delaware Office of Highway Safety has created a one hour course called the Graduated Driver’s License Parent Orientation Program. To assist you through the GDL process, DDOE highly recommends you take this course.
Important Forms
Families
- DMV Vision Form – This form is used only when a doctor needs to verify a driver license candidate has the minimal acceptable vision of 20/40 in one eye to obtain a driver license at the DMV.
- Parents 50-hour Booklet – Graduated Driving License resource for parents available when driver education is completed.
- Transfer Request Form – Out-of-State Driver Education – A form used in when an “Out of State Student” transfers to Delaware and wants their previous driver training approved in Delaware.
Instructors
- Driver Manual Instruction Letter – Used for LEA’s when needing to order driving manuals for every upcoming school year.
- Driver Manual Request Form – Part of the driving manual order process.
- Final Grade Form – A final grade status report all high schools need to submit to DOE at the end of every school year.
- In State Driver Education Sample Student Transfer Letter – An instructor resource used when students enrolled in driver education transfer to another in state high school prior to completing driver education.
- Memorandum 1 and 1A – Summer Funding Request – Teacher resource used when summer driving is needed to complete the yearly program and when funding is available.
FAQs
Please review our list of frequently asked questions.
All public and most non-public high schools offer driver education for free to the 10th grade class in accordance with Delaware Code. Home schooled individuals and students attending small religious academies may enroll in summer and evening driver education course. Proof of academic eligibility is required in order to obtain your Blue Certificate.
- A license from another state does not automatically transfer to a license in Delaware. Driving is a privilege offered by each state. The laws regarding how a teenager gets a license can differ in each state. If you are under the age of 18, on a permit or provisional license from another state, you must have your license transferred to Delaware within 60 days. Once your license is transferred, you must then follow the state of Delaware’s Graduated Driver’s License Program.
- Complete the Transfer Request Form: Out-of-State Driver Education form and provide all the documentation requested. If there is a document that you do not have, explain why in the comments section on the form.
To obtain a driver’s license there is DMV required documentation, including all of the following:
- Social Security Card
- One parent/sponsor
- Birth Certificate
- Verification of residency
- Blue Certificate or DOE approval letter
- $40.00
Each individual successfully completing driver education must have earned passing grades in 5 credits at the time of certification, with at least 2 of these credits in separate areas of English, Mathematics, Science, or Social Studies, in order to receive his/her Blue Certificate. This includes out-of-state students or individuals relocating into Delaware under the age of eighteen. You can contact your high school driver education teacher, high school counselor, or principal to verify your eligibility status.
Any individual under the age of eighteen must successfully complete a Delaware Department of Education driver education course. An approved driver education course must consist of thirty (30) hours of classroom instruction, seven (7) hours of in-car behind-the-wheel instruction and seven (7) hours of in-car observation. Teachers are certified by the Department of Education.
Each student who successfully completes the forty-four (44) hour driver education course will receive a “High School Driver Education Certificate” commonly referred to as the Blue Certificate.
No, the Division of Motor Vehicles will accept the Blue Certificate in lieu of the written and road skills test for a period of six (6) months from the date of issue. After the six months has expired, the certificate holder will need to be tested at the DMV.
Upon reaching the age of sixteen, novice drivers will receive a GDL after successfully completing driver education. In the first six months, novice drivers must be supervised by a licensed parent or other approved adult sponsor at all times while driving a motor vehicle. During the second six months, the novice driver may drive from 6:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. without adult supervision. After 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., adult supervision is required. Following a successful twelve (12) months of supervised driving experience, an unrestricted Class D license is granted.
- Contact the high school you attend and see if you qualify to take the Driver Education Course offered at your school.
- If your school is unable to enroll you in the Driver Education course, contact one of the Alternate Student Driver Education Programs located near you.
- Not all high school transfers from out of state qualify for free driver education. If you are a transfer student and you want to know if you qualify for free driver education, please contact our office.
Yes, all individuals under the age of eighteen will be given a written and road skills test at the DMV.
In Delaware he/she will not be eligible for a driver’s license until the age of eighteen.
The base fee charged by most Alternate Student Driver Education Programs is $578.
- A license from another state does not automatically transfer to a license in Delaware. Driving is a “privilege” offered by each state in our country. The laws regarding how a teenager gets a license can differ in each state. If a student is under the age of 18, on a permit or provisional license from another state, they must have their license transferred to Delaware within 60 days. Once their license is transferred, they must then follow the state of Delaware’s Graduated Driver’s License Program.
- Instruct the student to complete the Transfer Request Form: Out-of-State Driver Education form and provide all the documentation requested. If there is a document that they do not have, they are required to explain why in the comments section on the form.
- They must contact the high school they attend to see if they qualify to take the Driver Education Course offered at their school.
- If their school is unable to enroll them in the Driver Education course, they must contact one of the Alternate Student Driver Education Programs located near them.
- Not all high school transfers from out of state qualify for free driver education. If the transfer student wants to know if they qualify for free driver education, then please contact our office using the Contact Information below.
For Administrative Code, see Title 14 540 Driver Education.
For Delaware Code, see:
- Title 14
- Chapter 1: Department of Education
- Chapter 41: General Regulatory Provisions
- Title 21
- Chapter 27: Driver’s License
- Chapter 83: Commercial Driver Training School Licensing
Contact Us
Delaware Department of Education
401 Federal Street, Suite 2
Dover, DE 19901
Phone: (302) 857-3320
Fax: (302) 739-1769
For questions regarding your driver’s license, contact The Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles online or call (302) 744-2561
Alternate Student Driver Educations Programs
County | School | Offering | Phone | Contact Name/Email |
---|---|---|---|---|
New Castle | ASPIRA | Summer program | (302) 355-2300 | David Freeth |
New Castle | Charter School of Wilmington | Evening and summer programs | (302) 753-6999 | Jason Casper |
New Castle | Red Clay, Groves Adult Ed | Fall and Spring | (302) 651-2709 | Heather Farrell |
New Castle | Red Clay, Groves Adult Ed | Summer program | (302) 552-3751 | Rhonda Parson |
New Castle | Sussex Tech at Ursuline | Summer program | (302) 853-1448 | Chanteea Harmon |
Kent | Del-Tech, Terry Campus | Summer program | (302) 857-1400 or (302) 396-4695 | Angel Street or Steve Oscar |
Kent | Polytech, Adult Ed | Evening and summer programs | (302) 697-4545 | Jeremy McEntire or Deborah Finley |
Sussex | Indian River | Summer program | (302) 364-3300 | Nancy Bunting or Walter Smith |
Sussex | Sussex Tech, Adult Ed | Evening and summer program | (302) 853-1448 | Chanteea Harmon |