New APSU scholarship to help East Tennessee students become Special Education teachers

Clarksville, TN – Students from Scott and Blount counties interested in becoming special education teachers are eligible for a new scholarship at Austin Peay State University, thanks to a recent gift from an anonymous donor.

The East Tennessee donor will give APSU’s Martha Dickerson Eriksson College of Education (MDECOE) $50,000 over the next five years for its Together Everyone Achieves More (TEAM) scholarship initiative.

That project is working to increase the number of APSU students who want to teach special education to meet national and statewide shortages.

“We will start distributing this new scholarship money in the spring,” Dr. Erin Lynch-Alexander, APSU assistant professor of education and grant director, said. “The goal is to get students licensed so they can be special education teachers.”

The new scholarship is only open to students from Scott and Blount counties, in East Tennessee, and applicants must meet the admissions requirements for the MDECOE.

Dr. Moniqueka E. Gold, chair of the Department of Educational Specialties in the MDECOE, is excited about increasing not only the number of highly-qualified special educators licensed in Tennessee, but also about having scholarship monies to help support deserving students from East Tennessee who have chosen to earn a college degree from APSU.

The TEAM initiative is currently working to provide scholarships for students from other Tennessee counties,including Montgomery County, who are interested in teaching special education.

For more information on the scholarship or the TEAM initiative, contact Lynch-Alexander at lynche@apsu.edu.