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HARRISBURG, PA (April 12, 2024) – Aaron Chapin, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, issued the following statement after more than 3,500 students applied for student teacher stipends through PHEAA within two hours after applications opened on PHEAA’s website. State funding is available for about 750 student teacher stipends in FY 2023-24.
“We knew that the Student Teacher Support Program would be an incredible success, but this shatters all expectations. PHEAA literally ran out of stipends less than an hour after the application process opened. That is incredible.
“Unfortunately, this astonishing demand means that most students who applied for stipends won’t get them, because there is only $10 million available for the program this year. This is the best possible evidence that lawmakers and Gov. Shapiro need to increase funding for the program in the 2024-25 state budget.
“This program will be life-changing for student teachers in Pennsylvania. We should make sure that every single student teacher who needs a stipend can get one. That means we need to fund this program at $75 million in 2024-25 so that no student teacher is left out.”
Chapin is a Stroudsburg Area middle school teacher and president of PSEA. An affiliate of the National Education Association, PSEA represents about 177,000 active and retired educators and school employees, aspiring educators, higher education staff, and health care workers in Pennsylvania.
