Kentucky Department of Education

Welcome future educators!  Kentucky needs you!

Purpose:

The Minority Educator Recruitment and Retention Scholarship was authorized in 1992 by the Kentucky General Assembly to address the critical shortage of minority teachers especially in the areas of mathematics and science in Kentucky. The scholarship is a competitive and renewable award to be used up to four academic years if attending a four-year institution and two academic years if attending a community and technical college.

The scholarship provides financial assistance up to a maximum yearly award of five thousand ($5000) dollars for minority students enrolled in teacher education programs available at any of Kentucky's eight (8) state universities. Those attending a community or technical college may receive up to $2000 per academic year.

NOTE: If any of these requirements are not met the scholarship converts to a loan payable at 6% annually.

Program Requirements

 

All candidates must:

*  Be a minority as defined by KRS 160.345, college, and university.

*  Be a U.S. citizen and Kentucky resident

*  Maintain a 2.5 GPA

*  Declare Teacher Education as a major field of study

*  Be a undergraduate or graduate pursuing initial certification

*  Maintain continuous full-time enrollment or part-time if within 18 semester hours of receiving a teacher education degree

*  Obtain Kentucky Teacher certificate

*  Teach one semester in Kentucky for each semester or summer-term the scholarship is received

 

Scholarship Renewal:

 

Any student who has previously received this scholarship and is re-applying needs only to complete a demographic data sheet and a promissory note. The scholarship coordinator at your college or institution should complete and submit both forms to the Kentucky Department of Education.

Frequently Asked Questions

MERR Program Brochure   (Spanish Version)

MERR Coordinators (contact list)