The A&T College of Education was the recent recipient of a $3.6 million grant from the government for an accelerated master's degree program. The news was announced by A&T Dean Anthony Graham.
Graham said that the grant will be used over five yearsTeac and those who will be included in the program are recent college graduates and school employees who want to teach but doesn't have the license. These teachers will be trained to work in rural schools. The program is much quicker to finish than the standard Master's program. Thus, the students who will enroll in May will graduate in 2018. The college expects to have 15 students in May and aims to take in 50 students for the whole five years that the program is in effect.
According to Graham, the program works differently than other teacher-training programs because it will provide more hands-on training for the teachers. That means they will spend more time assisting teachers in public school classrooms, mostly in Randolph and Stokes county school systems, and learn the all the practicalities of what they learn rather than sit in a classroom and focus on theory.
Since the program will be more on experience, most of the grant will be used as salaries to these student teachers as a sort of compensation. Moreover, their tuition, book, and miscellaneous fees will be waived. However, those who want to avail the program should sign an agreement that they have to commit to teaching for three years after graduation.
Aside from A&T, other recipients include the University of New Hampshire, University of West Alabama, and Coppin State University of Maryland. The grant was given by the Teacher Quality program of the U.S. Department of Education.
According to Graham, the $3.6 million grant is the biggest the college has ever received. It is also the second university to receive a multi-million dollar grant in just a week. The other university was the UNC-Greensboro School of Education, which received a $2.3 million grant.
