If you have questions about this program, please contact the staff member listed on this page via email. If a staff member is not listed, please email info.ohe@state.mn.us and provide a detailed description of your question.
The Minnesota Student Teacher Grants provides postsecondary financial assistance to eligible students enrolled in Minnesota teacher preparation programs during one term in which the student is completing a required 12-week or more student teaching experience. There are two grants available based on eligibility:
The Minnesota Student Teachers in Shortage Areas Grant (Formerly Teacher Candidate Grant) provides postsecondary financial assistance to eligible students who intend to teach in a license shortage area or rural school district after graduating and receiving their teaching license.
The Minnesota Underrepresented Student Teacher Grant provides postsecondary financial assistance to eligible students who belong to a racial or ethnic group underrepresented in the Minnesota teacher workforce.
On a funds available basis, selected undergraduate and graduate students may receive awards of up to $7,500 for one term.
In general, applicants must:
A student must submit a complete application to the Minnesota Office of Higher Education for the term in which the student is completing a required 12-week or more student teaching experience.
Complete applications must include the following:
Click here to apply online for the 2022-2023 acadmic year or contact our office if you need a paper application. The 2023-2024 application will be available in June 2023.
Incomplete applications will not be processed.
Eligible students with complete applications on file by the priority dates below will be considered for awards in the specified term. If there are insufficient funds to provide an award to all eligible applicants, the applications will be prioritize based on:
Priority Deadlines:
Fall 2023: TBD
Spring/Summer 2024: TBD
All awards are based on funds availability. Applications will still be accepted after these dates but students are much less likely to be awarded.
The full list of eligible programs at each College and University are available here.
The eligible teacher preparation program/licensure areas considered to be designated teacher shortage areas are available here.
"License shortage area" means a licensure area that is identified by the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board in coordination with the commissioner using data collected for the teacher supply and demand report under MN Statute 122A.091, subdivision 5. Only licensure areas within the following fields may be identified as a license shortage area:
The rural school districts in Minnesota for the Student Teachers in Shortage Areas Grant is available here.
Note: documents in Portable Document Format (PDF) require Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 or higher to view.