Announcement comes during National Teacher Appreciation Week
RALEIGH, N.C. – A record number of future teachers, 522, have committed to participate in the state-funded North Carolina Teaching Fellows program during the 2026-27 academic year.
The Teaching Fellows program is a competitive, merit-based forgivable loan program providing tuition assistance of up to $10,000 per year for qualified students committed to teaching elementary education, special education, science, technology, engineering or math in a North Carolina public school. Those loans are fully forgiven once recipients meet teaching requirements in North Carolina public schools – one year of teaching for each year the award was received.
Student acceptances rose from 498 last year. The program’s new class of 522 students will bring the total number of active fellows to around 1,250 during the next school year, an over 340% increase from the number of active fellows just four years ago.
“The sustained growth of the NCTF Program is exciting for the future of education in North Carolina and is a result of strategic recruitment activities with our partner institutions, local school districts, and collaborations with other state agencies to enhance the teacher workforce pipeline,” said Dr. Bennett Jones, director of the North Carolina Teaching Fellows Program. “We are grateful for the continued support of lawmakers and educational leaders across the state as the NCTF Program is poised to lead efforts in the recruitment, preparation, and support of future teachers in North Carolina.”
The North Carolina Teaching Fellows program continues to be an important tool for recruiting and retaining teachers for public schools.
North Carolina has a growing teacher workforce shortage, according to the UNC System’s recent workforce alignment study. As job demand increases, the UNC System plays an important role in developing talent, producing more than 75% of bachelor’s and higher degrees in critical fields like education.
Experienced teachers from educator preparation programs have a 55 percent lower attrition rate compared to teachers who enter the profession via Residency Licensure pathways, according to a report from the NC Department of Public Instruction.
NC Teaching Fellows may attend any of the program’s 10 partner institutions, pending institutional admission. Those institutions include eight public and two private universities:
- Appalachian State University
- East Carolina University
- Elon University
- Fayetteville State University
- North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University
- NC State University
- Meredith College
- University of North Carolina at Charlotte
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- University of North Carolina Pembroke
This year’s award recipients hail from 77 North Carolina counties and 11 states. Of the total, 345 of the recipients intend to study elementary education, 93 are to study special education, and 84 are pursuing licensure in STEM education.