Minority Teacher Incentive Program (MTIP)/ Weisman Scholarship

by Mark French, CT Department of Higher Education

The History: The Minority Teacher Incentive Program was created by the state legislature in 1998 in order to encourage minority students to pursue a teaching career in Connecticut. Originally the program only provided grants to eligible students attending a public college in Connecticut or the state’s Alternate Route to Certification (ARC) program. Later in 1998, the legislation was amended to allow grants to be given to eligible students enrolled in teacher preparation programs at private colleges in the state, in addition to the public institutions. In 2005, Fred and Joan Weisman, private philanthropists, set up the Weisman Scholarship to encourage minority students to teach math or science in Connecticut public schools.

The Program Parameters: MTIP provides non-need based grants to minority students enrolled as full-time college juniors or seniors in Connecticut teacher preparation programs. To qualify, a student must be of African American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian American or Native American heritage and be nominated by the Dean of their institution’s teacher education program. Eligible students do not have to be state residents. Selected students may receive up to $5,000 a year in grant funds for their final two years of study and up to $2,500 a year in loan stipend funds for up to four years. To be eligible to receive the loan stipend students must complete their teaching program and have outstanding educational loans. Additionally, within 16 months of graduation, they must begin teaching in a Connecticut public elementary or secondary school for a maximum of four years. The Weisman Scholarship program has all of the same parameters as MTIP, however, selected students must teach math or science in a Connecticut middle or high school.

Program Statistics: During the 2010-11 academic year MTIP provided $270,000 in grants to 61 students and $111,362 in stipends to 46 teachers. During the same year the Weisman Scholarship provided $10,000 in grants to 2 students and $12,500 in stipends to 5 teachers.

Eligible Institutions:

1. Central Connecticut State University
2. Connecticut College
3. Eastern Connecticut State University
4. Fairfield University
5. Quinnipiac University
6. Sacred Heart University
7. Saint Joseph College
8. Southern Connecticut State University
9. University of Connecticut
10. University of Hartford
11. Western Connecticut State University
12. Yale University
13. Alternate Route to Certification