Free money available for future teachers

Southern University’s Department of Education is offering 10 paid teacher education scholarships for the 2006-2007 academic school year to incoming fall freshmen majoring in teacher education.
Students who are in pursuit of a degree in areas ranging from agriculture and biology to French and physical education are eligible to apply.
Prospective candidates must submit a completed application packet including a minimum ACT score of 22 or a comparable SAT score, a cumulative grade point average of a 3.0, evidence of community involvement or extra curricular activities and two letters of recommendation.
The Teacher Education Scholarship is part of Southern’s Teacher Education Program.
The purpose of the program is to produce teacher candidates who will obtain a Bachelor’s degree from SUBR and become Louisiana certified teachers.
Scholarship recipients must teach elementary, secondary or special education on a full time basis in a state approved school for at least four years.
The deadline to apply is April 30.
Applicants will be awarded points and selected according to criteria in categories such as a statement of their educational goals and the aforementioned qualifications.
In order to retain the scholarship, students must maintain a cumulative 3.0 GPA and full-time enrollment status, and meet PRAXIS requirements at various levels.
According to Milton Kleinpeter, Ph.D., chair of the scholarship committee, the scholarships are sometimes difficult to issue because of the ACT requirements.
“The roadblock we run into when issuing the scholarships is finding students who have a 22 on their ACT,” said Kleinpeter. “Students should be motivated enough to give their best effort for the opportunity to have their tuition paid including room and board for four years.”
Southern education professor Eva Kleinpeter, Ph.D., said there is a simple solution to finding students worthy of a scholarship.
“We (Southern University) need to recruit more high school students who are committed to education and has Southern as their first choice of universities to attend,” she said.
For additional application materials, visit www.subr.edu/coeducation or contact the state Department of Education.