The Indiana Commission for Higher Education is now accepting applications for the Next Generation Hoosier Educators Scholarship at LearnMoreIndiana.org/NextTeacher. High achieving Hoosier students interested in teaching must be nominated by a teacher or school administrator and submit a student application by December 31, 2016.
“Caring, committed and competent teachers in the classroom are the most important factors affecting students’ educational success,” Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education Teresa Lubbers said. “This scholarship is designed to attract Indiana’s best and brightest to the teaching profession, preparing a new corps of Indiana teachers to educate future generations of Hoosier students.”
The scholarship provides up to $7,500 each year of college for students who commit to teaching in Indiana for five years after earning their degrees.
To qualify for the scholarship, 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 students are also eligible for the scholarship, but priority will be given to high school students. Further, college applicants will be held to the same eligibility standards as high school students (top 20 percent of high school graduating class and top 20th percentile on the SAT or ACT.)
In its first year, 200 Next Generation Hoosier Educator scholarships will be awarded to students in a competitive process based on academic achievement, teacher nomination and an interview process. The Commission will review applications and select finalists by January 31, 2017. Finalists will be interviewed at eight regional sites across the state. The Commission is partnering with local community, business and education leaders to host the interview sessions. Students selected to receive the scholarship will be notified by April 15, 2017.
Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma authored legislation that created the Next Generation Hoosier Educator Scholarship, which received bipartisan support during the 2016 legislative session. Visit LearnMoreIndiana.org/NextTeacher for more information and to apply.
