New Scholarships Will Increase the Quality of Computer Science Education in Arkansas

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A $75,000 gift from ForwARd Arkansas will provide scholarships for University of Arkansas students pursuing a secondary teaching license in the field of computer science.

A gift from ForwARd Arkansas will provide scholarships for University of Arkansas students pursuing a secondary teaching license in the field of computer science. The $75,000 gift will support 10 students during their last two years of study at the U of A.

"I am pleased that ForwARd Arkansas has established this scholarship to support students who are studying to become licensed computer science instructors," said Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. "This scholarship perfectly complements my goal to teach computer coding to as many high school students as possible. This gift, in conjunction with the $2 million set aside in this year's budget, will ensure that Arkansas students are receiving quality instruction that will prepare them to enter the state's ever-evolving workforce. The more teachers we can train in computer science, the more students will be coding literate, which is good for the future of Arkansas."

The scholarships will be administered by UAteach, a secondary math and science teacher preparation program.

"UAteach is extremely grateful for the scholarship support from ForwARd Arkansas," said Bryan Hill, director of UAteach and assistant dean in the U of A College of Engineering "Executive Director Susan Harriman has been a strong advocate for UAteach and we look forward to a continued partnership to support secondary teacher preparation in Arkansas."

ForwARd is a partnership of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation and the Arkansas State Board of Education. The program is committed to helping every Arkansas student graduate prepared for success in college and the workplace. Recipients of the U of A scholarships will commit to teaching in a ForwARd Community school district.   

"ForwARd Arkansas is pleased to support future educators that are rigorously prepared to teach STEM and computer science," said Harriman.  "UAteach graduates are highly employable with strong content knowledge and ForwARd Communities will benefit from this."

For more information on the UATeach program, email teach@uark.edu.