The CSU announced Monday that San Luis Obispo and five other campuses — Chico, San Diego, San Francisco, San Marcos and Stanislaus — received a combined $7.1 million in funding from the National Science Foundation.
Cal Poly was given $865,540 to “support educational opportunities for math and science majors pursuing a K-12 teaching credential,” according to a statement from the CSU.
The money comes from the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, which supports the development of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) teachers.
The CSU system produces more than 6,800 teaching graduates every year, and more than 1,500 are STEM teachers.
Still, the CSU says, California is experiencing a shortage of credentialed STEM teachers, with a projected need of more than 33,000 additional teachers in the next 10 years.
Marquita Grenot-Scheyer, CSU’s assistant vice chancellor of Educator Preparation and Public School Programs, said the grants will support “a critical state and national priority to develop a diverse science and technology workforce.”
The money will help fund scholarships and stipends for undergraduate and teacher credential students, the CSU said.
Other terms of the grants include:
- Each recipient can receive up to three years of scholarships with stipends of up to $10,000 per year during upper-division and credential study.
- Students must also fulfill a teaching obligation in a high-need school district.
- Scholarship and stipend recipients are required to complete two years of teaching for each year of support.
