Master’s fellowships will encourage top graduates to pursue careers in education

The University of Indianapolis is one of just four universities selected for the kickoff of an unprecedented national program designed to steer talented college graduates into long-term careers as teachers.

The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation has selected Indiana for the start of its 50-state strategy, and Lilly Endowment Inc. has pledged more than $10 million to launch the program.

UIndy is the only independent institution among the initial participants, which include Purdue University, Ball State University and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
The Woodrow Wilson Indiana Teaching Fellowship program was announced at a news conference today in Indianapolis by Gov. Mitch Daniels and officials from the endowment, the New Jersey-based foundation and the participating universities.

“UIndy’s selection for this program reflects the solid reputation of our School of Education and the school reform efforts led by our Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning,” UIndy President Beverley Pitts said. “We look forward to the growth of this exciting initiative. Indiana needs to put more of its brightest minds in the classroom.”

The Indiana fellowships are aimed at college seniors and at graduates seeking career change who have outstanding undergraduate records as math or science majors. Fellows will receive $30,000 stipends for a year-long master’s degree program, after which they must teach math or science for at least three years in high-need urban or rural Indiana schools.

The fellowships will make teaching careers more appealing to graduates who often seek jobs in higher-paying fields, and they will help attract talented college graduates to Indiana, where one-third of the current teachers are eligible to retire within five years. The Indiana program initially will prepare 80 new math and science teachers each year – approximately one-fourth of the total number of Indiana teachers now entering those fields – with a goal of expanding to 400 per year.

The University of Indianapolis and other participating universities have pledged to re-evaluate and enhance teacher education curriculum, study new leadership models, expand partnerships and mentoring in high-need schools, and evaluate their graduates. UIndy’s math, science and education faculty will collaborate in mentoring the Woodrow Wilson fellows, and its curriculum changes will be informed by the innovative school reform models UIndy has helped promote in Indiana, such as the New Technology High School concept.

For more information on UIndy’s Woodrow Wilson Indiana Teaching Fellowship, visit education.uindy.edu/teachingfellowship.

For more on the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, visit www.woodrow.org.

About UIndy
The University of Indianapolis is a top-tier, independent, comprehensive institution of higher education founded in 1902, with enrollment of 4,600 on its main campus and 400 at its wholly owned branch in Athens, Greece. The challenging undergraduate, master’s and doctoral programs include nationally ranked offerings in the health sciences. Two centers of excellence make UIndy a leader in education reform and gerontology. More information is available at www.uindy.edu.