INDIANAPOLIS – Aspiring Indiana teachers can apply for up to $30,000 in financial aid with the Next Generation Hoosier Educators Scholarship through the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.

The scholarship provides up to $7,500 per year of college (up to $30,000 total) for top performing Hoosier students who commit to teaching in Indiana for five years after earning their degrees.

Interested students should apply by Nov. 30, 2019 at ScholarTrack.IN.gov.

“Hoosier students deserve motivated, quality teachers, and this scholarship is designed to attract just that,” said Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education Teresa Lubbers. “We continue to be encouraged by the commitment of these future educators and look forward to the positive impact they’ll have on their students.”

Entering its fourth year, the scholarship is awarded to 200 students across the state in a competitive process based on academic achievement, teacher nomination and an interview process. Last year, a total of 393 students applied, with applications coming from 212 high schools in 82 of Indiana’s 92 counties.

To qualify, students must either graduate in the highest 20 percent of their high school class or earn a score in the top 20th percentile on the SAT or ACT. To continue earning the scholarship in college, students must earn a 3.0 cumulative GPA and complete at least 30 credit hours per year. Current college freshmen and sophomores are eligible for the scholarship, but priority will be given to high school students.

“I was so excited to receive the news,” said Makenna Norman, a recent Next Generation Hoosier Educators scholarship recipient at IU Kokomo. “I want to make an impact on children’s lives, specifically in high school. As a teacher, you have one of the most important, profound impacts on people.”

Finalists will be selected by Jan. 10, 2020 to be interviewed in Indianapolis on March 14, 2020. Students selected to receive the scholarship will be notified by April 3, 2020.

Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma authored legislation that created the Next Generation Hoosier Educators Scholarship, which received bipartisan support during the 2016 legislative session. While the majority of the inaugural 2017 cohort will graduate in May 2021, the scholarship has already helped over 40 Hoosiers become licensed teachers.

Visit LearnMoreIndiana.org/NextTeacher for more information and to apply and follow #NextTeacher on social media.

 

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Photo by Nicole Honeywill on Unsplash