The Pennsylvania Student Teacher Support Program, which provides eligible student teachers with up to $15,000, opens Thursday.
The program will help address teacher shortages across Pennsylvania and fill staffing gaps for critical education positions, Gov. Josh Shapiro said.
Act 33 was signed into law in 2023, establishing the $10 million Educator Pipeline Support Grant Program, which aims to address the financial strain caused by student teaching requirements. The program provides financial support to students enrolled in a PA Department of Education-approved teacher preparation program and who are completing their student teaching requirements.
Compared to 10 years ago when Pennsylvania certified approximately 20,000 new teachers yearly, in 2023, Pennsylvania certified just over 5,000 new teachers. There are 5,500 teacher vacancies in schools across the commonwealth right now.
The application opens at 9 a.m. Thursday at pheaa.org/StudentTeacher.
To qualify, students must commit to working as teachers in Pennsylvania for a minimum of three years after completing their education and must be enrolled in an approved PDE Educator Preparation Program at a higher education institution in the commonwealth.
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW