BOSTON — Accredited, nonprofit Western Governors University’s School of Education will mark American Education Week (Nov. 13-17, 2023) by announcing its WGU Loves Teachers and Become a Teacher scholarship programs for current and future education professionals who wish to pursue bachelor’s or master’s degree programs in the Teachers College. Each scholarship is valued up to $4,000 and aims to help boost the educator pipeline and increase teacher diversity in Massachusetts.
For the 2022-23 school year in the Commonwealth, only 9.7% of teachers were ethnically diverse, while 44.2% of students were. In a 2019 memo on teacher diversity to members of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Jeffrey C. Riley cited research that for students of color having a single teacher of color can “boost academic achievement, high school graduation rates, and college enrollment.”
“WGU is proud to support teacher recruitment, training and retention,” said Rebecca Watts, Ph.D., regional vice president of WGU. “In just 20 years since its founding, WGU’s Teachers College is now in the top 1% for granting degrees for Black and Latino educators at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, and is second in the nation for combined graduate and undergraduate degrees and credentials for students of color.”
The WGU Teachers College is committed to keeping costs low, reducing the need for student borrowing and resulting in average graduate debt that is about half that of the national average. The college provides dozens of degree pathways in a student-centered, competency-based model with flexible scheduling. The six-month, flat-rate term allows students to progress through as many courses as they can as soon as they demonstrate skills mastery, at no extra cost.
Prospective and enrolling WGU students may apply for the WGU Loves Teachers and the Become a Teacher scholarship by visiting wgu.edu/aew.
To learn more about WGU’s Teachers College and its academic programs, visit wgu.edu/online-teaching-degrees.
