Support Debt-Free Teachers

The College's launch of our revolutionary Debt-Forgiveness Program offers merit- and need-based assistance support to our students. This bold initiative is aimed at recruiting and retaining the nation’s best future teachers to provide the best education for schoolchildren in Oklahoma’s high need areas. This program will specifically assist students who commit to teaching in Oklahoma in high-need areas. For each year that students teach in the state—up to four years—$5,000 of their student loans will be forgiven.

This new program is critically important, as half of OU’s Education students graduate with approximately $20,000 in loan debt, and the average annual salary for teachers at the onset of their career in Oklahoma is $31,000.

More graduate scholarship endowments will help OU compete nationally for top graduate students in Education. These scholarships would focus on full-time graduate students who support teaching and research within the College because those students have such a broad impact on the quality of education offered to all Education students.

In order to continually position the college as a leader in the field, it is imperative that we have more endowed scholarship funds for undergraduate students. Ideally,these endowments will generate enough income each year to fund scholarships that will substantially cover the annual cost of tuition, fees and books, which in 2014 is approximately $9,000 a year for in-state students.