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Western Kentucky University offering tuition discount for the state’s P-12 teachers starting this fall
Western Kentucky University offering tuition discount for the state’s P-12 teachers starting this fall

News release

In a move aimed at facilitating the deployment of highly credentialed teachers into Kentucky’s P-12 school systems, WKU will offer Kentucky educators a reduced tuition rate for courses that lead to advanced certification or rank change associated with their employment in P-12 educational settings.

“Children and youth are our future and key to the economic well-being of the state,” said Dr. Sam Evans, Dean of WKU’s College of Education and Behavioral Sciences. “The ability of teachers and other certified school personnel to provide an environment that facilitates learning significantly impacts the ability of our P-12 students to succeed and reach their full potential, and we want to help those teachers be appropriately prepared.”

Starting Fall 2015, WKU will provide significantly reduced tuition for face-to-face, blended, and online classes beyond the first three hours each semester to help educators enhance their expertise in areas related to their current and future employment. For the first three hours in any enrollment period, tuition is $495 per credit hour. Classes beyond the first three hours in any period can be taken for only $295 per credit hour.

“A strong teaching and learning model maximizes college and workforce readiness for high school graduates, as mandated in Senate Bill 1,” said Dr. Gordon Emslie, WKU’s provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. “WKU is committed to closing the learning/achievement gap in P-12 settings by providing strong teacher preparation programs. Providing such high-quality programs at affordable rates will allow Kentucky’s P-12 educators to become better prepared for the demands of today’s schools and classrooms.”

The tuition rate will be automatically available to Kentucky residents who are pursuing a nondoctoral graduate program leading to an additional or advanced certification or a rank change. They must hold, or be eligible to hold, a Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board Statement of Eligibility as a classroom teacher or hold a professional certificate as a classroom teacher, or other certified school personnel, i.e., counselor, principal or superintendent.

“WKU has been and remains a leading preparer of educators in Kentucky and is committed to providing high-quality graduate level programs of study for Kentucky educators,” Dr. Evans said. “Our goal is to make affordable tools available to educators so they can prepare students who are college and career ready when they finish high school.”

For more information, including a list of eligible programs of study, visit http://www.wku.edu/ketd or email [email protected] or call the College of Education & Behavioral Sciences at (270) 745-4662.