Save On Your Teaching Degree with the Black Belt Teacher Corps Teach for Alabama Scholarship

This scholarship is available to any University of West Alabama junior/senior and Alt. A education student (on-campus or online) in a program providing initial certification who meets the other criteria listed on the application. For BBTC scholars receiving the full scholarship, four semesters of full-time enrollment are required.

Eligibility Criteria:

• Completed application form
• Classified as a junior, senior, or Alt. A in TEP
• Minimum 2.75 GPA
• Demonstrated financial need
• Never defaulted on a loan or scholarship award
• Enrolled in a program of study for initial certification that leads to teacher certification/licensure

1. Complete application form (please type).
2. Write a one-page, typed double-spaced statement. Discuss your educational goals and how you plan to use the scholarship money.
3. Provide two letters of recommendation.
4. Email completed applications to Susan Hester (shester@uwa.edu)

Return applications to the College of Education:

Please email completed applications to Susan Hester shester@uwa.edu

or mail to:

University of West Alabama
College of Education
Attn: Susan Hester
Black Belt Teacher Corps Teach for Alabama Coordinator
Station 8
Livingston, AL 35470

Each semester the scholarship is active, the award is $2,500 (up to a maximum of $10,000). Full-time enrollment each of 4 total semesters is required to receive the scholarship.

There will be a sliding scale of the service teaching time required based upon the amount awarded. Senior interns receiving one semester of scholarship funding ($2,500) must commit to teach for a full calendar year in an approved Alabama public school within 12 months of certification and receive ALSDE certification within six months of the originally expected graduation date. Seniors receiving two semesters of scholarship funding ($5,000) must commit to teach for two full calendar years in an approved Alabama public school within 12 months of certification and receive ALSDE certification within six months of the originally expected graduation date. Students receiving three or four semesters of scholarship funding ($10,000) must commit to the same stipulations and teach for three calendar years (36 months).

8. Counties in the Black Belt region that apply to this scholarship umbrella include: Lamar, Pickens, Sumter, Choctaw, Washington, Greene, Hale, Marengo, Clarke, Perry, Dallas, Wilcox, Monroe, Conecuh, Escambia, Lowndes, Butler, Crenshaw, Montgomery, Macon, Pike, Bullock, Russell and Barbour. To find out which Alabama public schools are considered rural, use this link. High-needs districts usually include schools with critical teacher shortages, content area shortages, prevalent poverty, low-performance ratings, or large percentages of teachers teaching without certification or outside of their certification field.

Recipients must sign and return a promissory note before the release of scholarship funds.

Recipients are also required to sign a Black Belt Teacher Corps Teach for Alabama contract; failure to do so will result in dismissal from the program. If you are accepted as a Black Belt Teacher Corps Teach for Alabama scholarship recipient and do not complete the requirements, you must repay any scholarship stipends received.