Explore a rewarding career in teaching with financial support from the Georgia Southern Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce Scholarship). Our unique dual degree program merges STEM and education, opening doors to impactful careers in high-need school districts.
Scholarship Overview
The Noyce Scholarship offers up to $37,500 toward the completion of your undergraduate studies. The scholarship is awarded as a forgivable loan.
Requirements
All GS Robert Noyce Undergraduate Dual Degree Scholars are expected to:
Teach at least two years in a high-need school district, for each year of scholarship acceptance.
Be enrolled as a full-time student at Georgia Southern while receiving the scholarship.
Declared a major in biology, chemistry, biochemistry, mathematics, or physics (Students in Social Sciences, Liberal Arts, Public Health, Engineering, and Business are not eligible for this program).
Maintain a minimum GPA of 2.75 or higher.
Be a U.S. Citizen or permanent resident.
Declared a major in the secondary (grades 6-12) education credentialing program.
Application Requirements
The application for the GS Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program is open to all full time undergraduates seeking a dual degree in a STEM field (biology, chemistry, biochemistry, mathematics, or physics) and a BSED in education. We encourage you to apply in your sophomore year. Applications are now being accepted. The application has five parts:
- Noyce applicant information
- A short essay: your narrative should be approximately 200 words addressing all of the following:
- Why you want to be a secondary (grades 6-12) mathematics or science teacher,
- Your personal and professional qualifications, including any experiences working with K-12 education,
- Your commitment to working with diverse student populations, and
- How a Georgia Southern Robert Noyce Scholarship could support your career goals.
- Current program and expected graduation date.
- A copy of your most recent transcript (unofficial is acceptable).
- One professional recommendation speaking to your potential to teach STEM programs.
- Reference letters can be uploaded within the application, or emailed to Noyce@georgiasouthern.edu, or completed using the recommendation form.
Program Outline
Junior Year (Scholar Year 1)
Required Courses/Scholar Activities:
- Continue to enroll in content courses.
- Complete a colloquium consisting of six 90-minute meetings each semester
- Apply to become a STEM Ambassador with the Center for STEM Education.
- Attend the state disciplinary conference for your content area (Georgia Council for Teachers of Mathematics or Georgia Science Teachers Association).
Summer Program
- Participate in a one-week summer internship at the Georgia Southern Botanical Garden or University of Georgia Marine Extension Program focused on leveraging local resources to promote problem-based learning.
- Attend Noyce regional/national conferences, participate in session presentations, and network with professional contacts.
Senior Year (Scholar Year 2)
Required Courses/Scholar Activities:
- Enroll in upper-division content courses, elective courses (as needed)
- Participate in a colloquium consisting of six 90-minute meetings each semester.
- Complete one STEM Ambassador activity per semester.
- Attend the state disciplinary conference for your content area (Georgia Council for Teachers of Mathematics or Georgia Science Teachers Association) and co-present with project faculty.
Summer Program
- Participate in a one-week summer internship at the Georgia Southern Botanical Garden or University of Georgia Marine Extension Program focused on leveraging local resources to promote problem-based learning.
- Attend Noyce regional/national conferences, participate in session presentations, and further develop a network with professional contacts.
5th Year (Scholar Year 3)
Required Courses/Scholar Activities:
- Enroll in education courses and COE/COSM seminar course (Spring semester).
- Complete a full-time clinical practice experience in Savannah-Chatham County or Evans County Public Schools (Spring semester).
- Participate in a colloquium consisting of six 90-minute meetings each semester.
- Complete one STEM Ambassador activity and co-lead a STEM activity at their fall and spring field placements.
- Attend the state disciplinary conference for your content area (Georgia Council for Teachers of Mathematics or Georgia Science Teachers Association) and co-present/present with project faculty at the regional/national Noyce conferences.
Teacher Induction and Development (Post-Graduation)
For each year of scholarship, you will receive two years of mentoring, while fulfilling your teaching obligation in a high need school district. The Noyce program is committed to helping you succeed and therefore provides post-graduation coaching and development plans.
The Georgia Southern University (GS) Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF Award # 2151023).
More information on the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program is available on the national Robert Noyce Scholarship Program website or the National Science Foundation website
FAQs
- Recipients of GS Robert Noyce scholarships must be US citizens, nationals, or permanent resident aliens.
- Undergraduate applicants must be a junior majoring in biology, chemistry, biochemistry, mathematics, or physics, or education majors interested in a dual degree.
- Graduate applicants must hold a bachelor’s degree in a STEM field and be enrolled in MAT secondary education program. STEM majors include: biological sciences, computer sciences, engineering, mathematics and statistics, physical sciences, marine sciences, mathematics and computer science, or fields related to these discipline
- Applicant’s CANNOT be a teacher of record while receiving the scholarship.
Reference letters can be uploaded within the application, or emailed to Noyce@georgiasouthern.edu, or completed using the recommendation form.
To qualify as a High-Need School District, the school district must have at least one school that:
- Serves at least 20% students from low-income families;
- Serves at least 10,000 students from low-income families; OR
- Qualifies for funding under the Small, Rural School Achievement Program or the Rural and Low-Income School Program
AND
- Has at least 34% of teachers not teaching in the academic subject area or grade level for which they were trained to teach;
- Has a teacher attrition rate of at least 15% over the last three school years; OR
- Has at least 34% of teachers teaching with emergency, provisional, or temporary certification/licensure
There are several webpages to help you locate high-need schools districts. Since these change frequently, Noyce mentors will work with you to help you determine which districts/schools qualify when you are ready to apply.
The Noyce Team does not place Noyce Scholars for full time employment.
Failure to satisfy the academic requirements of the program or to complete the service requirement will result in the recipient’s forfeiture of the scholarship award with repayments pro-rated accordingly to reflect partial service completed. The formula used to calculate the repayment will be, A = F[(2-s)/2] where “A” is the amount Georgia Southern is entitled to recover; “F” is the sum of the total amount paid to the recipient; “2” is the number of years of service obligation; and “s” is the number of years or fraction of years of such obligation served.
Except as noted below in “Conditions for Waiver and Cancellation” any amount that Georgia Southern is entitled to recover is due within 30 days of the date on which Georgia Southern is entitled to recover such amount. After such time, interest will accrue on the outstanding obligation.
Georgia Southern may waive the repayment obligation, in whole or in part, if it is determined that fulfillment of the service obligation
(1) would be impossible due to a disability of the recipient,
(2) would result in extreme hardship to the recipient, or
(3) is determined to not be in the best interest of the school district.
The recipient must initiate requests for waivers of repayment obligations with a certified letter detailing the reasons why a waiver should be given. Additional documentation may be requested. Decisions on waivers of repayment obligations will require a majority vote by the Principal Investigators of the Noyce grant and the recipient’s faculty advisor(s) during the student teaching and/or induction year of teaching. The Principal Investigator of the grant, or a designee, will respond in writing to requests for waivers by certified mail within 14 days of a request for waiver of repayment obligation.
- Georgia Southern will cancel any repayment obligation in the event of the death of the recipient.
Recipients must commit to serving at least two years for each year of scholarship acceptance as a mathematics or science teacher in a high-need school upon receiving certification.
If the school is part of a Local Education Agency (LEA) or religious jurisdiction, such as a diocese, that functions as an LEA, it can satisfy the Noyce high-need requirement as long as the LEA meets the two criteria of the high-need LEA requirement as defined in section 201 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1021). A high-need LEA does not have to be a public school system.
Robert Norton Noyce (December 12, 1927 – June 3, 1990), nicknamed “the Mayor of Silicon Valley”, was an American physicist and entrepreneur who co-founded Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957 and Intel Corporation in 1968. He is also credited with the realization of the first monolithic integrated circuit or microchip, which fueled the personal computer revolution and gave Silicon Valley its name.
If you have any further questions, please email noyce@georgiasouthern.edu.
Contact Us
Gregory Chamblee, Ph.D.
Program Director
College of Education
Hui Jin, Ph.D.
Program Co-Director
College of Education
Tuyin An, Ph.D.
Program Co-Director
College of Science and Mathematics
Denise Carroll, Ph.D.
Program Co-Director
College of Science and Mathematics