This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
Under the aegis of the Iowa Mathematics and Science Education Partnership (IMSEP), the University of Northern Iowa, Iowa State University, and the University of Iowa have combined forces with the North Iowa Area and Hawkeye Community Colleges to coordinate teacher preparation in science and mathematics across the state. The current program serves as the base for the Noyce Scholars Program being established and extends the support they currently have available to interest freshman and sophomore science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) majors in a teaching career to recruiting junior and senior STEM majors (about 10/year for a total of 28, as the scholarships may last for more than one year) and STEM career changers desiring to become teachers (5-6/year for a total of 22) through special programs within IMSEP. Noyce Scholars enroll in one of four teacher preparation pathways: 1) the traditional pathway of each university's undergraduate preservice teacher preparation program; 2) the post-baccalaureate licensure program at any of the three universities, completing the program within two years; 3) a new 5-year major plus certification program at the University of Iowa; or 4) a new inter-university IMSEP program, the Iowa Teacher Intern Licensure Program.
All scholarship recipients are expected to teach at least two years within a high needs school district for each year of scholarship support received.