HPU’s Stout School of Education Receives Nearly $8 Million Grant to Prepare Local Educators

HIGH POINT, N.C., Sept. 12, 2024 – High Point University’s Stout School of Education will receive a nearly $8 million grant over the next five years from the U.S. Department of Education to help prepare teachers and principals to work in four local school districts.

HPU is one of only two universities in North Carolina and among just 13 universities across the nation to receive a federal Teacher Quality Partnership grant, which aims to recruit, develop and retain diverse educators in school districts with a high poverty rate and a high teacher turnover rate.

The Stout School of Education will receive $7,975,521 to prepare teachers and principals for schools in Caswell County, Montgomery County and two cities in Davidson County — Lexington and Thomasville — through its ASPIRE Program. The grant will fund a teacher assistant-to-teacher program that will yield 60 educators with a Master of Arts in Teaching degree and a teacher licensure, as well as 45 aspiring principals with a Master of Education in Educational Leadership degree and a school administrator licensure.

This will help to fill the educator pipeline in school districts that are currently experiencing a shortage of educators.

“High Point University and the Stout School of Education are thrilled to partner with Winston-Salem State University to prepare teachers and principals for Thomasville City Schools, Lexington City Schools, Montgomery County Schools and Caswell County Schools,” said Dr. Amy Holcombe, dean of the Stout School of Education. “Both universities are committed to fostering partnerships with our local communities, and this grant will allow us to make significant and positive impacts for many years.”

This is the third time the Stout School of Education was awarded a Teacher Quality Partnership grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The school received a $4 million grant in October 2018 and a nearly $10 million grant in 2022. The Teacher Quality Partnership grant from two years ago remains the largest competitive grant ever awarded to High Point University.