Noyce WISE Scholars
The WISE (Wildcat Initiative for STEM Education) program provides scholarship funding to eligible junior and senior science and mathematics students at WSC who are also pursuing teaching endorsement credentials in the state of Nebraska. WISE is funded through the National Science Foundation's Robert Noyce Scholarship Program which seeks to encourage talented mathematics, science, and engineering students, and current science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) professionals to pursue teaching careers.
Scholarship details
Scholarship award amounts depend on how much aid you are eligible to receive as determined by your FAFSA application, as well as any other financial assistance you may be receiving. The scholarship covers your remaining cost of attendance each semester (after all other aid is determined), with a maximum of four semesters of funding possible. Each semester of support after the first semester is dependent on the student maintaining satisfactory academic progress (defined by WSC). Each student will be informed of their maximum award possible when they are initially offered the scholarship.
Recipients accept the scholarship with the understanding that it carries with it a service obligation. More specifically, in exchange for the scholarship, the recipient agrees to teach in a “high-need local educational agency” for one year for each semester of the scholarship assistance.
Questions? Contact:
Supervising faculty:
Dr. Mary Kuchta
Dr. Christian Legler
Dr. Al Mitchell
Program details
A Noyce WISE Scholar must:
- Be a U.S. citizen, national, or permanent resident.
- Have junior or senior standing at WSC by beginning of scholar program. Transfer students will be considered if proper documentation has been submitted.
- Maintain a minimum 2.5 GPA.
- Pursue a teaching endorsement in a STEM-related field.
- Meet all benchmarks for advancement in educator preparation, including an increased GPA to 2.75 for clinical practice.
- Prospective scholars must complete an interview process.
How long must I teach?
For each semester of scholarship assistance you receive as a WISE Scholar, you must teach one year to fulfill your obligation outlined in the promissory note. For example, if you receive the scholarship for two years, then that would require four years of teaching.
Where do I teach?
To fulfill your obligations outlined in the Promissory Note, you must teach in a High-Needs Local Education Agency (LEA). This can be defined as a school district where two conditions must be met:
- At least one of the following is true in this district:
- At least 20% of the children served come from low-income familes, or
- At least 10,000 children served come from low-income families, or
- Meets the eligibility requirements for funding under the Small, Rural School Achievement (SRSA) Program, or
- Meets the eligibility requirements for funding under the Rural and Low-Income School (RLIS) Program
- At least one of the following is true in this district:
- There is a high percentage of teachers in this district that are not teaching in the academic subject area or grade levels in which the teachers were trained to teach, or
- There is a high teacher turnover rate, or
- There is a high percentage of teachers with emergency, provisional, or temporary certification or licensure
WSC is no longer accepting applications for the NOYCE WISE program.
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