Hillsborough Education Foundation

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Many of our best teachers come right out of our schools!
The Hillsborough Education Foundation has developed a scholarship program for employees of the school district in conjunction with such partners as Citi. The CitiScholars scholarship program provides educational opportunities for promising instructional support personnel, which includes para-professionals, aides, assistant teachers, clerical, technical staff, etc. This program serves as a resource to bring this current group of employees into the teaching force, which will aid in the reduction of the teacher shortage in the Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS). To accomplish this goal, the following plan has been implemented:

Recruit instructional and non-instructional support personnel interested in obtaining a degree or certification in Education within 3 years.

Provide tuition assistance for qualified applicants who meet pre-determined criteria for participation in the program, and current recipients who meet the criteria for scholarship renewal

Direct funds towards tuition assistance for qualified applicants

Applicants are screened and evaluated by an HCPS Recruitment Committee and rated based on predetermined criteria. A minimum of 25 applicants are selected annually for the program, with current recipients able to apply for grant renewal to help them complete their education in accordance with established performance goals and criteria. These applicants will be awarded grants to assist with their tuition and related expenses for one year, up to $1000.

Scholarship recipients will be selected from a targeted group of full-time instructional support personnel who meet the following requirements:

Must have completed an Associates of Arts degree, or have earned a minimum of 60 semester hours of college credit
Must have been employed by the school district for at least three (3) consecutive years
Must demonstrate financial need to be considered for the program
Current ‘CitiScholar’ recipients who continue to meet the above requirements may be eligible for renewal of their scholarship

To date, 72 persons have participated in the CitiScholars program, with approximately a 45% scholarship renewal rate. As of August 2006, 25 of these non-instructional staff have completed their certification/education and are transitioning into teaching in Hillsborough County Schools.