HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) \u2014 As Pennsylvania continues to grapple with a teacher shortage, the student-teacher stipend program opens Thursday.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s being administered by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Program (PHEAA)<\/a> and has been in place for the past three years.<\/p>\n Educators and advocates hope it will help with the ongoing teacher shortage.<\/p>\n State legislators allocated $30 million to the program and Governor Josh Shapiro (D) is asking for another $5 Million.<\/p>\n But, the Pennsylvania State Education Association says it\u2019s not enough to help every student-teacher who applies, only about two-thirds.<\/p>\n Those that do get it will receive a $10,000 stipend for a usually-unpaid position.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat it will allow is for our prospective students, teachers to focus solely on being a student teacher,\u201d Aaron Chapin, president of PSEA, said. \u201cIn many cases, a lot of our student teachers, when they start that 12 to 15 week experience, depending on the institution they\u2019re asked and actually told in many instances to put aside any part time jobs that they may have.\u201d<\/p>\n The stipends are on a first-come, first-serve basis and those who get them have to commit to teaching at a Pennsylvania school for three years after graduation.<\/p>\n Download the abc27 News+ app on your Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV devices<\/a>, and newer Samsung Smart TVs.<\/a><\/p>\n For more information on the program, visit PHEAA\u2019s website.<\/a><\/p>\n Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n