Robert Noyce Scholarship Program
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Robert Noyce
Scholarship Program
3307 3rd Avenue West
Suite 307
Seattle, WA 98119
noycescholarship@spu.edu
206-281-2399 Phone
206-378-5400 Fax

Robert Noyce Scholarship Program

About

The Robert Noyce Scholarship program, named for the co-inventor of the semiconductor and co-founder of Intel, is a partnership grant from the National Science Foundation for science, engineering, technology, and mathematics (STEM) majors.

The program aims to meet the growing local and national need for better-qualified teaching professionals in the STEM fields. The program also seeks to channel these teachers into local districts with high-need students.

SPU’s Robert Noyce Scholarship program began in September 2006 as a result of a proposal led by Department of Physics Chair John Lindberg. The program supports SPU students working toward an initial science or math teacher preparation program. Undergraduate students may receive one-year scholarships of up to $10,000, which may be reapplied for and renewed for a second year. Graduate students may be eligible for a one-year maximum stipend of $10,000.

Following graduation, Noyce scholars spend two years teaching science or mathematics in Seattle Public Schools (or other high-need districts) for each year they were a Noyce award recipient.

A primary objective of SPU’s program is to increase the diversity of the teacher workforce in the Northwest. This diverse pool of candidates, serving in high-need school districts, provides students with role models who are both proficient in the STEM fields and from traditionally underrepresented populations.

Want to know more? Find out how to become a Noyce scholar.

Which School Districts Qualify as “High Need”?

To qualify as “high need” according to the National Science Foundation for the purposes of the Robert Noyce Grant requirements, a school district must meet one of the following criteria:
  • It has at least one school in which 50 percent or more of the enrolled students are eligible for participation in the free and reduced-price lunch program established by the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C.1751 et seq.).
  • It has at least one school in which one of the following occurs:
    • More than 34 percent of the academic classroom teachers at the secondary level (across all academic subjects) do not have an undergraduate degree with a major or minor in, or a graduate degree in, the academic field in which they teach the largest percentage of their classes.
    • More than 34 percent of the teachers in two of the academic departments do not have an undergraduate degree with a major or minor in, or a graduate degree in, the academic field in which they teach the largest percentage of their classes.
  • It has at least one school whose teacher attrition rate has been 15 percent or more during the last three school years.

Do I Have to Teach in Washington?

Noyce Scholars are encouraged to teach in Washington state, though it is not required.

Download a list of school districts in Washington that meet the high-need standard. (236 KB PDF)

“There is nothing more rewarding than to experience a student’s realization of a previously abstract concept — one they never thought they could understand.”

Leah Safstrom, 2008–09 Noyce Scholar