California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) has been awarded a $227,262 Integrated Program Grants from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing to develop four-year teacher preparation programs.
The university was among 17 of 23 California State University (CSU) campuses to receive the grant. Currently, only seven CSU campuses–Bakersfield, Chico, Fresno, Long Beach, Monterey Bay, Northridge and San Marcos–offer four-year teacher preparation programs. CSUDH and 15 additional campuses will begin admitting students through the new credentialing program in fall 2018 for the 2018-19 academic year.
“As a statewide innovator in teacher preparation, the CSU is uniquely poised to offer these new four-year blended teacher training programs,” said Marquita Grenot-Scheyer,” assistant vice chancellor of Teacher Education Program and Public School Programs at the CSU Office of the Chancellor. “California’s children and youth deserve highly-qualified teachers committed to student success and the Integrated Program Grants will enable the university to nearly triple the number of new teachers graduating annually with STEM, Special Education and bilingual credentials.”
The grants are designed to help ease California’s burgeoning K-12 teacher shortage with a special focus on expanding the number of teacher candidates earning STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and bilingual credentials, which the CSU says are “the two most critical areas of need for teachers in California.”
With the Integrated Program Grants, CSU teacher candidates will save approximately $20,000 by eliminating the cost of an additional year of tuition, and college-related expenses and textbooks, according to Grenot-Scheyer. In addition, to incentivize more students to enter the teaching profession, teacher candidates will also be eligible for $16,000 in state and federal grants.
The CSU system is the state’s largest producer of teacher candidates and leads the nation in preparing STEM teachers. Its campuses garnered $5.19 million of the $8 million in grant funding awarded.
