Earning a college degree can be expensive. Thanks to a program launched by the MSU College of Education and the College of Natural Science, students pursuing careers teaching high school science now have a way to reduce their degree costs.
Spartan Teacher Promise participants will receive up to two years of financial assistance covering tuition and fees for their junior and senior years, with the loan fully forgiven if they commit to teaching in a Michigan school for four years. Those who teach in high-need districts or subject areas will have an accelerated repayment plan.
“The State of Michigan is facing a crisis with regard to the number of highly qualified public school science teachers. The number of students applying to our MSU secondary science teaching program has been in decline for more than 10 years,” said Gabriel Ording. “The program will work alongside existing state and federal financial aid to make teacher preparation more accessible. Recognizing that the early years of teaching can be particularly challenging, the program will also provide ongoing support and mentorship to ensure new educators are equipped for long-term success in the classroom.”
Project leaders all have a strong connection to preparing Spartan educators. Professor Gail Richmond has served MSU for more than 40 years, including five as the director of the Teacher Preparation Program. Ording and Oney graduated from the College of Education—Ording in 2005 with a teaching certificate and Oney in 2013 with a teaching certificate and in 2014 with an M.A. in Teaching in Curriculum. Both also have spent their careers serving MSU.
The leaders have seen the MSU Teacher Preparation Program around its enrollment peak — Ording and Oney, for example, had dozens of fellow students in their undergraduate cohorts.
Yet, those same classes today have only a handful of students.
Oney is literally teaching in the same classrooms in which he was a student. It was “the dream” to be the teacher of those classes someday. But now he’s among those seeing first-hand how the number of prospective secondary science educators is dwindling, fast.
It is a small example of a wider, nationwide teacher shortage. (Read the New Educator story on the Education Policy Innovation Collaborative, which includes insights on an MSU-led report on the teacher shortage.)
By working together across colleges we are building a model that will strengthen Michigan’s teacher workforce and create lasting impact in our schools.
- Dean Jerlando F. L. Jackson
And, it’s why initiatives like Spartan Teacher Promise matter, and why it is critical to have dedicated Spartans like Ording, Oney and others drive it from ideation to implementation.
“The teaching profession is incredibly challenging, incredibly expensive — and incredibly rewarding,” said Oney. “Sometimes those first two items, especially the financial burden of a degree relative to pay, can be difficult for students. Spartan Teacher Promise will help minimize the overall cost.”
Spartan Teacher Promise is supported by initial funding from the College of Education and the Center for Integrative Studies in General Sciences, which Ording directs.
The joint investment led to a Fall 2025 pilot launch, with six students enrolled.
The goal is to expand the program to more students and to other types of teaching degrees and programs throughout MSU.
The Spartan Teacher Promise has already been a benefit to me, and will only become more beneficial to me [as I complete my studies]. ... Education is one of the most important fields for people to pay attention to and study today, so to be a part of that is everything to me.
- Adriana Canter, MSU Student
The Spartan Teacher Promise Leaders
- Dean Eric L. Hegg (College of Natural Science)
- Dean Jerlando F. L. Jackson (College of Education)
- Tawnya McKinzie, strategic project manager (College of Education)
- Matt Oney, assistant director, Integrated Secondary Science Education program (College of Natural Science)
- Gabriel Ording, associate professor and director, Center for Integrative Studies in General Sciences (College Natural Science)
- Gail Richmond, professor & faculty lead (College of Education)