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14 Scholarships and Grants to Help Ease Your Transition into the Classroom

As a teacher, you may qualify for national and regional scholarships and grants. These are just some of the programs available to help fund classroom materials, education expenses, and more.


By The TFA Editorial Team

January 24, 2018

Teachers—especially those serving in under-resourced communities—can quality for a myriad of scholarships and grants offered through a variety of programs that open up opportunities for additional professional development and certification. Some of these can also help offset costs for classroom supplies and field trips, for which many teachers pay out of their own pocket.

We’ve compiled a list of 14 national and state scholarships and grants that offer unique incentives for keeping high-quality teachers serving in communities that need them most.

Some grants and scholarships require you to teach beyond your two-year commitment as a Teach For America corps member. Be sure to read all requirements and conditions on each program’s website and contact each specific program for more information.

NATIONAL PROGRAMS

101 Scholarships Just For Teachers

The 101 Scholarships Just For Teachers website offers a fairly exhaustive list of scholarships that teachers can apply for.

 

Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program

For U.S. teachers, the Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program involves a year, semester, or six-week-long direct exchange of teaching positions with a counterpart in another country teaching the same subject and level.

 

Philanthropic Ventures Foundation: Teacher Resource Grants

Teacher Resource Grants provide funding to teachers who need additional resources for classroom materials, projects, and field trips.Grants focus on enhancing conservation science, arts, and special education projects.

 

Target Field Trip Grant

The Target Field Trip Grant program awards grants for teachers to fund educational field trips. Target will award 5,000 grants of up to $800 each for the upcoming school year.

 

TEACH Grant

The Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Program provides grants of up to $4,000 per year to college students who intend to teach in public or private elementary or secondary schools that serve students from low-income families.

 

Teacher Advancement Program (TAP) Founders Award

The TAP Founder’s Award will be awarded each year to a school demonstrating exceptional implementation of the Teacher Advancement Program (TAP). The Award comes with a $50,000 cash prize for the school to use to help achieve its TAP goals in subsequent school years.

 

The Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program

The Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program offers elementary and secondary mathematics, technology, and science teachers with demonstrated excellence in teaching an opportunity to serve in the national public policy arena. Fellows provide practical insight in establishing and operating education programs.

 

Toyota International Teacher Programs

The Toyota International Teacher Programs are fully funded international professional development opportunities for educators interested in advancing environmental stewardship through the teaching of interdisciplinary, solution-centered approaches to environmental issues.

 

Troops to Teachers

The Troops to Teachers program is designed to assist separating or retiring military personnel in pursuing a career in public education (elementary, secondary, or vocational). Troops to Teachers will reimburse the cost of earning a teaching credential up to a maximum of $5,000. In return for this assistance, the participant agrees to teach for three years in an economically disadvantaged school district.

 

US Department of Education: Teaching Ambassador Fellowship

The Teaching Ambassador Fellowship offers two separate year-long tracks:

  • Washington Fellows: Serve as paid full-time federal employees in Washington, D.C. for one school year. Fellows are placed in positions within the Department of Education to work on education policy development.

  • Classroom Fellows: Serve their regular teaching contracts with their districts, and are paid to perform additional Fellowship duties for the Department of Education for one school year.

Join Teach For America 

Apply to teach as part of the 2020 corps and be part of our coalition of leaders working to end educational inequity. 

APPLY

 

STATE-SPECIFIC PROGRAMS

Illinois Special Education Teacher Tuition Waiver

College students and teachers interested in pursuing a career teaching special education in the state of Illinois may be eligible for the Illinois Special Education Teacher Tuition Waiver Program. This program will exempt you from paying tuition and mandatory fees at an eligible institution, for up to four calendar years.

 

New York Teachers of Tomorrow

The Teachers of Tomorrow (TOT) program recruits and retains well-prepared, highly motivated certified classroom teachers who serve in high-needs schools in NYC. The TOT incentive program provides up to $3,400 of annual tax-free grants to teachers employed in NYC public schools who dedicate themselves to the students in these schools.

 

Teach Maryland Incentives

Maryland has multiple financial incentive programs for teachers, including:

  • National Board Certification: A stipend of up to $2,000 a year is available as a dollar-for-dollar match to local school systems for teachers who earn certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

  • Reconstitution/Reconstitution-Eligible/Challenge School Stipend: A $2,000 stipend is available for classroom teachers who hold an Advanced Professional Certificate and work in schools identified by the State Board of Education as challenge, reconstitution-eligible, or reconstituted schools. Teachers must also have a satisfactory performance rating.

All Maryland teachers are eligible for an annual $1,500 tuition tax credit designed to offset graduate tuition expenses necessary to maintain teaching certification.

 

Virginia Tuition Assistance for Early Childhood Special Educators

The Virginia Tuition Assistance for Early Childhood Special Educators program provides tuition reimbursement for full-time paraprofessionals working in early childhood special education programs while enrolled in undergraduate or graduate courses related to special education areas.

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