PSEA president calls on elected leaders to fully fund stipend program with at least $50 million in 2025-26 budget

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HARRISBURG, PA (Jan. 27, 2025) — More than $13 million in stipends have been paid to 1,302 student teachers in Pennsylvania as of Jan. 9, and another 839 student teachers are on track to receive stipends before the end of the 2024-25 school year, according to data from the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA).

The Student Teacher Support Program, which went into effect at the beginning of the current school year, provides $10,000 stipends to eligible aspiring educators while they perform their full-time student teaching experience. The eligible student teachers, in turn, agree to work as teachers at schools within Pennsylvania for at least three years.

At a time when many school districts are experiencing crisis-level teacher shortages, the program was designed to remove a major barrier for students on the road to becoming certified teachers while creating an incentive for aspiring educators to remain in Pennsylvania after graduation.

“It was a massive weight lifted off my shoulders when I found out that I had gotten a stipend,” said Kaylin Shewmake, a Penn State student who received a stipend for a fall 2024 student teaching placement in the Philipsburg-Osceola Area School District.

According to PHEAA, stipends will be awarded to 2,141 eligible student teachers during the 2024-25 school year — 1,225 in the fall semester and 916 in the spring. As of Jan. 9, 904 fall semester and 398 spring semester student teachers have received their stipends, while stipends were in process for another 321 student teachers in the fall and 518 in the spring, according to PHEAA.

But limited funding for the program will prevent hundreds of otherwise eligible student teachers from accessing stipends this spring, said PSEA President Aaron Chapin.

“PHEAA received more than 4,000 applications for student teacher stipends in the 2024-25 school year, but just over 2,100 student teachers are funded to receive one,” Chapin said. “Our estimates indicate that at least $50 million in funding is needed in 2025-26 to ensure every hardworking student teacher who is eligible for a stipend can receive one. We believe funding at this level will ensure that the commonwealth can provide bonus stipends to those student teachers who serve in high-vacancy schools or school districts.”

Praise for stipends

Student PSEA members had high praise for the Student Teacher Support Program.

“This program has been truly life-changing for me and many other student teachers,” said Riley Simon, a Lebanon Valley College student who received a stipend for a fall 2024 student teaching placement in the Annville Cleona School District. “It’s difficult to do your student teaching while working, even part time. But we still need to pay our bills, put gas in our cars, and commute to and from our student teaching placements. This program removes a significant barrier for many aspiring educators.”

Shewmake, the Penn State student, agreed.

“I knew that student teaching full time was such a huge time commitment,” Shewmake said. “I didn’t know how I was going to be able to fit in all that goes into student teaching — the lesson planning, prep work, and commuting back and forth — with a part-time job and all of the things that I love to do at college. It was a really massive weight lifted off my shoulders.”

At least $50 million for student teacher stipends

Due to limited funding for the program in its first year, not all eligible student teachers are receiving stipends during the 2024-25 school year. Lucy Coller, a student at Bloomsburg University, applied for a stipend for a spring 2025 student teaching placement but did not receive one.

“Every eligible student teacher in Pennsylvania should be able to get a stipend to help make ends meet while we are completing our student teaching placement,” Coller said. “After I applied for a student teacher stipend, it was incredibly disappointing to learn that I did not receive one, while many others did. I hope our leaders in Harrisburg will do the right thing and fully fund student teacher stipends. This program should be about opening the door for more aspiring educators to pursue careers in teaching. It shouldn’t be a lottery system.”

Chapin said PSEA is advocating for the state to fully fund the Student Teacher Support Program in the FY 2025-26 budget.

“We appreciate the enthusiastic support of the governor and a bipartisan group of state lawmakers who came together to make student teacher stipends a reality,” Chapin said. “PHEAA has done a remarkable job getting the program up and running, working in partnership with colleges and universities and the schools hosting our student teachers. They know what PSEA has been saying all along: This program can change lives.

“As we look ahead to the second year of the program, we call on our elected leaders to fund student teacher stipends with at least $50 million in the FY 2025-26 budget, so that every eligible student teacher can count on a stipend as they gain incredibly important classroom experience.”

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.