Teaching Scholarships in Virginia
An increased need for teachers in Virginia will result in the creation of more than 26,000 new jobs from 2008 through 2018, according to the Virginia Workforce Connection. A minimum of a bachelor's degree from a state-approved college or university is necessary to gain a teaching license in the state. To encourage students to enter the field, the Virginia Department of Education offers the Virginia Teaching Scholarship Loan Program, which helps prospective teachers manage the cost of their degree programs.
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Eligibility
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To qualify for the Virginia Teaching Scholarship Loan Program, candidates must meet eligibility requirements established by the Virginia Department of Education. Students must be Virginia residents and enrolled full or part time in one of the state-approved teaching programs in Virginia. Only students in their sophomore year or higher are eligible for the program; graduate students may also be considered. A minimum grade point average of 2.7 on a scale of 4.0 is also necessary to qualify.
Application
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Qualified students cannot directly apply for the Virginia Teaching Scholarship Loan Program. The Virginia Department of Education only accepts nominations from the dean or the director of the education department of the state's approved teacher-preparation colleges and universities. Typically, each college distributes application packets to education students and then reviews the completed packets, selecting the most qualified students to receive nominations from their schools. A panel then reviews the nominees from each college and distributes as many scholarships as the available funds permit each year.
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Shortage Areas and Other Features
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As of February 2011, the maximum amount of awards through the Virginia Teaching Scholarship Loan Program was $3,720. Awards are given on a one-time basis; eligible students must reapply every year to continue to receive the award. In addition to meeting the general qualifications for the program, candidates for the Virginia Teaching Scholarship Loan must intend to teach in one of the fields of education identified by the state as a critical shortage area. Each year, the Virginia Department of Education develops a new list of these critical shortage areas, meaning that students may not qualify each year if their field is not reidentified as a shortage area.
Service Obligation
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In exchange for their awards, recipients of a Virginia Teaching Scholarship Loan must agree to complete a service obligation after graduation. To fulfill the obligation, recipients must work in a critical shortage area in a Virginia school for one year for every year they received the scholarship. As an example, a student who benefited from the scholarship during his sophomore, junior and senior years would need to work in a Virginia school for three years. For students who do not fulfill the service requirement, the scholarship reverts to a student loan, requiring repayment of the amount received plus interest.
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