SLIPPERY ROCK — Those wanting to teach in Pennsylvania, and many other states, must first pass a state-mandated certification exam. Slippery Rock University’s McKay Testing Center is the place to start.

The center, located at 215 McKay Education Building, the heart of SRU’s education college, has been operational about three years and is now self-sustaining, said John Snyder, associate director of SRU’s Office of Career Education and Development and director of the center.

Up to 300 test-takers visit the center monthly.

The SRU center now offers between 100 and 300 tests per month — all online. Since its opening in March 2012, the center has netted $27,000, Snyder said.

The center serves as the Western Pennsylvania regional hub for both the long-recognized Praxis test offered by Educational Testing Services as well as the newer Pearson VUE certification exam. Both tests are approved by the state Department of Education and a number of other state education departments across the U.S.

While the Praxis exam requires a straight, five-hour testing period, the Pearson test is more flexible, offering various segments ranging in time from two to seven hours, so the numbers of actual test-takers per week varies. All tests must be scheduled online, in advance through the testing houses’ individual websites.

“We can administer any exam for any state a test taker is interested in,” Snyder said. “The student simply goes online and registers and schedules for the appropriate test, and when he or she signs in at the McKay Center, the appropriate test appears on their computer.”

The center also handles principal and superintendent certification exams, along with the computerized Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam required of international students.

“We also offer the General Educational Development — GED — to those in the region trying to earn their high school equivalency diploma,” Snyder said.

He said that benefit is especially helpful for graduates or those who have already been teaching and are now changing their homebase for any number of reasons.

The center also serves as a convenient location for students who want to enter the College of Education and need to pass the basic-skills test before being granted admission, usually in their freshman or sophomore years.

“They can sign up and take the test right here on campus. Students at other nearby colleges and universities, including Grove City, Westminster as well as those from Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio and others frequently use our facility as do students in the region from other higher education institutions who are home on various breaks, or the summer, ” Snyder said.

Snyder said most testing is done on a Monday through Friday basis, but some exceptions allow Saturday and evening testing.