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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