Frequently Asked Questions

The Noyce Scholars Program supports STEM undergraduate students and professionals to become effective STEM teachers in high-need middle or high schools. With this program, scholars will receive a scholarship for MAT tuition, books, and fees. Scholars must then teach for two years in a high-need school.

The program spans three years. In Year One, scholars complete MAT coursework starting in the summer. These courses are online and there is no internship. The fall semester is a combination of traditional coursework and internship while the spring semester is internship heavy, and scholars likely take a single class concurrently. Following graduation from the MAT program, Noyce Scholars are required to teach for two years in a high-need school. During this time scholars will receive job placement support, salary stipends, and a professional learning community with resources for STEM teaching.

The summer coursework at the start of the program is fully online. The fall and spring MAT coursework must be completed while in Baltimore, since Internship placements will be in a BCPS middle or high school. After graduation, scholars can teach in a high-need school anywhere in the country to fulfill the service requirement.

A school is designated as high‑need based on federal law that focuses primarily on the percentage of students from low‑income families. According to the criteria in 20 U.S.C. §1021, a school can qualify in one of two ways. First, a school is considered high‑need if it falls within the highest quartile (top 25%) of schools in its district when ranked by poverty level. Districts can determine poverty using several measures, including census counts of children living in poverty, eligibility for free or reduced‑price lunch, participation in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Medicaid eligibility, or a composite of these indicators. Alternatively, a school may be designated as high‑need by meeting specific low‑income thresholds, regardless of its ranking within the district. Under this rule, an elementary school qualifies if 60% or more of its students are eligible for free or reduced‑price lunch, and a middle or high school qualifies if 45% or more of its students meet that eligibility. In practice, this means high‑need schools are those serving substantial numbers of students from low‑income households, whether measured by district‑wide comparison or by federal percentage thresholds. If at least one school in the school district meets the high-need definition, the entire district is considered high-need for purposes of the Noyce program.

In-person internships happen at the same time as online MAT classes. During the summer semester, there are online classes and no internship. The fall semester has Internship I, which requires scholars to be in a school two days per week. The spring semester has Internship II, which is what is traditionally referred to as student teaching. Most of the coursework is front-loaded so that in the spring during Internship II, scholars will likely take a single class alongside student teaching.

The repayment is for service time only. Accepting the scholarship and support means that you agree to the two-year service requirement. If a Noyce scholar does not complete the two-year service requirement, then the financial support must be repaid. Part of the financial support includes $10,000 in salary supplement from Noyce during the two-year service period.

It is recommended that scholars get an early start searching for teaching positions, especially if they plan to teach outside of the Baltimore area. The Noyce Program does offer job placement support; however, it is important for students to be aware of the process and requirements for the state in which they are applying. Ideally, scholars should start teaching full-time as the teacher of record in a high-need school in September following graduation in May.

Yes, Noyce scholars are eligible for assistantships and other scholarships. One of the scholarships our scholars are eligible for is the Teach Grant. This provides some additional funding which would aid in non-academic costs such as food and housing.

Loyola also has graduate assistantships, which can range from 10 to 20 hours a week. Available graduate positions are posted on the Office of People and Culture website. More positions are posted as faculty and offices start to plan their research and support needs.