Noyce FAQs

Please make sure you have read about the scholarship and watched the informational video first.  

The information and video are found here (under the heading "Scholarship Information").

FAQs:

1. Question: What is a Noyce Scholar?

Answer:  A Noyce Scholar is a student who has been awarded a Noyce scholarship.  Once you are a Noyce Scholar and complete the requirements of the program, you are a Noyce Scholar for life.

2. Question:  How do I qualify to apply for a Noyce math grant? 

Answer:  You need to have been approved to start the formal year 3 of the credential program (meaning you have been approved to take MTED 394 in the fall semester or you have already taken MTED 394).   You have a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher.  

3. Question:  What are the requirements that I need to maintain while I am a Noyce scholar? 

Answer:  There are two parts to this answer because there are requirements before graduation and after graduation.

During your years at SJSU (before graduation) a Noyce scholar is expected to maintain a GPA of at least 2.75 in the years of the program for which the Noyce funds were awarded (this GPA requirement does not include courses prior to receiving the scholarship, only the GPA for Junior and/or Senior level courses taken during the year(s) you receive funding.)

After you graduate from the program and obtain your single subject preliminary math credential, you will be eligible to apply for full time jobs teaching math in middle or high school.  You are required to fulfill a service requirement to work in a school district that is determined to a be a "high need" school district (also referred to as a high need Local Educational Agency or "high need LEA").    The length of your service requirement is as follows:   

For each year you receive Noyce funding, you are required to teach for two years in a high need school district.  

So if you are awarded a Noyce scholarship for year 3 and 4 of the program.  You are required to work for four years in a high need school district.  You will be required to submit proof of your employment in a high need LEA and will be required to complete a yearly survey to update your location, contact information, and update us on your progress.

4. Question: How long do I have after graduation to fulfill the service requirement?

You must fulfill your service requirement within eight years of graduating from the undergraduate ITEP program.

5. Question:  Which school districts qualify as high need? 

Answer:  In brief, a high need school district has at least one school in the district where:

a)  at least 20% of the children served by the agency are from low income families

and

b) meets at least one of the following criteria: 

i. has a high percentage of teachers not teaching in the academic subject areas or grade levels in which the teachers were trained to teach; 

or 

ii. has a high teacher turnover rate or a high percentage of teachers with emergency, provisional, or temporary certification or licensure.

Note: the majority of school districts in California and the Bay Area are High Needs ELAs. In our local area, East Side Unified High School District, San Jose Unified, and Fremont Unified are a few examples of districts that are considered "high need."    Finding a job in a high needs ELA will not be difficult.

To search:  this data base can help identify schools that are serving low income students:  https://studentaid.gov/tcli/

Here is a database of CA schools receiving free and reduced lunch:  https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/ad/filessp.asp .  Note that the vast majority of schools have at least 20% of there students qualified for free and reduced lunch (which is available for students of low income families).

6. Question:  Do I need to teach in a high need school? 

Answer:  No, you do not need to teach in a school that is designated as a "high need school" per the previous question.  You need to teach in a school district that has at least one school that meets the high need criteria above.  You can teach at any school in that district even if that school does not meet the high need criteria above.

7. Question:  What happens if I do not satisfy the requirements of the Noyce program? 

Answer:  If you do not satisfy the requirements (for completing the ITEP degree and/or satisfying the service requirement within the time period and/or completing the yearly contact check and employment verification), then your scholarship/grant money converts to a student loan which must be repaid (like any other student loan).  The details of the student loan conversion are in our financial aid application documents that Noyce scholars complete before receiving their funding.

8. Question:  What happens if I don't teach in a high need school district? 

Answer:   You have an eight year time period to complete your service requirement for the scholarship grant.  The service requirement must be in a high need school district.  If you do not satisfy the service requirement then you will not meet the requirements of the program.

9. Question:  What happens if I decide I don't want to teach in a middle school or high school setting after receiving a Noyce grant to complete my BA Math ITEP?

Answer:  In this case you will not satisfy the service requirement which means you will not be satisfying the requirements of the Noyce program.

10. Question:  What makes the Math Noyce scholarship worth pursuing? 

Answer: