Highlighted in this paper are several hidden costs entailed by mandating that all teachers be prepared through 5 or 6 years of teacher education, with the professional part of that preparation occurring at the graduate level. Four areas where mandating extended preparation may lead to hidden costs are identified: (1) encouraging a focus on procedural issues; (2) narrowing the talent pool of prospective teachers; (3) reducing the diversity of colleges/universities offering teacher education; and (4) neglecting the financial implications of extended teacher preparation. While these topics are at times overlapping, they have been separated in this paper in order to facilitate discussion and analysis. (JD)