College of Education and Behavioral Sciences

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Tuition Waiver for Supervising Teachers and Resource Teachers for Teacher Interns

POLICY

Western Kentucky University supports public school teachers working with student teachers through the adoption of the following policy relevant to SB77, Section 9.  Effective in 2019, for participating counties, mentor teachers for the New Teacher Academy will be included in WKU’s policy.

1. In recognition of valuable service to the preparation of teachers and the need for all teachers to have continual professional growth, a cooperating teacher may, with prior approval of the course offering institution, take a maximum of six (6) credit hours per term at any public institution and pay no tuition. The postsecondary institution shall waive the tuition up to a maximum of six (6) credit hours.  Mentor teachers in the New Teacher Academy may take a total of three (3) credit hours at WKU.
2. The teacher covered in this section may exercise the tuition-free course option, only if there is available space within a given course offering. A postsecondary institution shall not be required to establish a course to meet teacher requests.
3. The tuition-free courses may be used to partially satisfy requirements for an advanced degree.

The following conditions must be met for the tuition waiver to be effective.

1. Public school teachers wishing to apply for the tuition waiver must be admitted to graduate studies at Western Kentucky University with a planned program of study on file in the Graduate Studies Office and/or Teacher Certification Office and enrolled in coursework.
2. Public school teachers serving as cooperating teacher for student teaching for one full semester are eligible for six (6) hours of tuition-free courses for each semester of supervision during an academic year. The school teachers serving as a cooperating teacher for student teachers for one-half semester are eligible for three (3) hours of tuition-free courses for each half semester of supervision during an academic year. Mentor Teachers for New Teacher Induction programs, sponsored through WKU, are eligible for three (3) hours of tuition-free courses for each year they serve as a mentor teacher for that school district. Should the MOA with that school district to provide the New Teacher Induction be dissolved, the tuition waiver will no longer be available to mentor teachers.
3. Course eligibility must be used within one academic year after the end of the semester during which the assignment as a supervising teacher is completed. Academic semesters refer to Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall semesters.
4. Public school teachers are responsible for payment of all required fees, books, and supplies in addition to any application costs and are responsible for gaining admission to their desired program of study.
5. The value of the tuition waiver is based on the KY Educator Discount of $350 per credit hour ($1050 per 3 credit course) for graduate level courses.  Please note the EdD program tuition rates exceed the waiver amount; therefore, students wishing to use the waiver toward EdD coursework will be responsible for the difference between the KY Educator Discount ($1050 per 3 credit course) and the tuition rate for the EdD program.

Western Kentucky University reserves the right to modify policy, procedures, and program eligibility.

For questions about the tuition waiver, contact shannon.evans@wku.edu.

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