From student to teacher: How Pennsylvania’s stipend program helped one woman achieve her dream

“Without a student teacher stipend, I don’t know how I would have been able to gas up my car, put food on the table for my kids, and get the classroom experience I needed to complete my certification.”

As a mother of two, Melanie Williams knows the importance of good teachers. But she also knows what it takes to keep a roof over her family’s head and food on the table.

Williams is an education major at the University of Indiana of Pennsylvania, working toward her dream of becoming one of those good teachers she hopes her kids have. Thanks to a student teacher stipend program offered by the state, she was able to complete her student teaching requirement, putting her on the path to becoming a certified teacher.

“It is virtually impossible to work a full-time job as a student teacher and support my family,” Williams said. “Without a student teacher stipend, I don’t know how I would have been able to gas up my car, put food on the table for my kids, and get the classroom experience I needed to complete my certification.”

Melanie Williams

Started in 2023, the PA Student Teacher Support Program, which is administered by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, compensates student teachers in the state. Prior to the program, student teachers were not compensated for their mandatory three months of full-time, supervised teaching that must occur before receiving their teaching certificate.

In order to be eligible for the stipends, students must attend a college or university in Pennsylvania and participate in an approved education program, maintain a 3.0 minimum grade point average and promise to teach in Pennsylvania for three years after graduation. 

“We have a critical shortage of teachers entering the workforce,” State Rep. Peter Schweyer (D-Lehigh), Chair of the Pennsylvania House Education Committee, said in an interview last year with the Keystone. 

“We used to train 15,000 educators a year, where the last couple years we’re down around 4,700 new teachers every year. As a result, we are relying on more and more folks that are in our classrooms that maybe have emergency certification, have tremendous skills, but don’t necessarily have the basic background of writing lesson plans or doing any of those other things that a teacher needs to do.”

More than 2,000 students have benefited from the program since its inception. Earlier this month, more than 3,000 students submitted an application to the program for the 2025-26 school year in less than 24 hours.

“Over the past year, I have met student teachers who are sole providers for their families and could never have completed their student teaching without the financial security that comes with receiving a stipend,” said Aaron Chapin, Pennsylvania State Education Association president. “[Stipends] ensure student teachers don’t have to take part-time jobs in the evenings while they are working full-time jobs during the day in our schools.”

The program began with $10 million in annual funding, but this was later increased to $20 million during budget negotiations. Chapin said that even so, that hundreds of otherwise eligible student teachers are turned away because of lack of funding. Gov. Josh Shapiro is proposing a $20 million increase in funding for the program in this year’s state budget.

For Williams, the student teacher stipend program was truly life-changing. 

“The only reason I decided to do my student teaching last fall was because this program was available,” Williams said. “Teaching is a challenging profession, and it’s no secret that it can be tough to attract people to the job. If more people knew they could earn a stipend to supplement their income, it would likely encourage more individuals to pursue teaching. 

“As a parent of two children in the district, I know how important it is to have educators who truly care about their students.”

Now, Williams can be one of those teachers.