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STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi State University is offering people interested in going into teaching an alternate route to getting a teaching degree.
MSU is offering scholarships to help students with up to $5,000 in tuition, The Enterprise-Journal of McComb (http://bit.ly/1Q8c9zE) reports. In return, graduates who receive the Teacher Education for Rural Middle Schools scholarship must agree to teach middle school in one of the 72 designated school districts partnering with the program — including McComb and South Pike.
Outreach coordinator for the alternative programs at MSU Dekota Cheatham said the university also offers three different programs with a choice of emphasis. Programs include certification in upper elementary and middle school, high school and special education.
"We invite students to come to campus and meet their fellow classmates and professors soon after they are admitted," Cheatham said. "But students of the alternate route programs are never required to come to Starkville."
All of the alternate route programs lead to a state teaching license and can be completed online.
Cheatham said the program will also donate around $5,000 in technology to the school that hires a newly certified teacher. Those donations include laptops, printers, projectors and document cameras.
In 2015, the program provided $52,500 in scholarships and more than $50,000 in technology donations, Cheatham said. Since the program started, the university has provided $250,000 in scholarships and $250,000 in technology donations.
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Information from: Enterprise-Journal, http://www.enterprise-journal.com
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