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Noyce Qualifying School District Criteria
Individuals who accept Robert Noyce scholarship or stipend funds agree to teach in a “high needs” school district upon completion of their teacher preparation program. The service commitment is two years of teaching for every year of financial support. Individuals who fail to meet their commitments must repay the funds, which are structured as forgivable loans.
Maine High Needs Schools in 2007-08 (PDF)
The criteria for high needs school districts are defined in section 200 of the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA), and can be summarized as follows:
A "high need district" means a district, also referred to as a “local educational agency” (LEA), that serves an elementary or secondary school in which there is:
- a high percentage of individuals from families with incomes below the poverty line; or
- a high percentage of secondary school teachers not teaching in the content area in which the teachers were trained to teach; or
- a high teacher turnover rate.
The HEOA also classifies a district as “high needs” if it enrolls fewer than 600 students, as part of its “Small, Rural Schools” definition.
Each year, we will post a list of Maine qualifying schools on this web page. In 2007-08, all except one public school district in Maine qualified on the basis of poverty level or low enrollments (rural). Because the list can change from year to year, it is important to check back for the most recent list when you complete your teacher preparation program and are ready to look for jobs. Here are some clarifications that have been helpful to past Noyce scholars:
- If school district is listed for the year before you are hired, but no longer meets Noyce criteria when you start working, the district will still qualify. It is assumed that you made a good faith effort to find employment in a qualifying school based on the information available to you at the time of your job search, and you will not be penalized.
- Once a district qualifies and you start working, all your consecutive years of service in that district will also qualify. So if your district qualifies in your first year of teaching but is delisted in your second year, the second year can still count toward your service commitment. However, only consecutive years AFTER becoming a qualifying school will count – if you begin teaching in a non-Noyce district which later becomes listed in your third year of teaching, only the third year (and any consecutive years after that) will count toward your Noyce service commitment.
- If you complete only part of your teaching service obligation, you will be required to repay a prorated portion of your Noyce award.
- Certain hardship circumstances, such as a disabling illness, or a death in your immediate family, can qualify for a cancellation of your teaching service obligation.
Questions? Please contact Amy Johnson, Noyce Program Manager, at amyj@usm.maine.edu.