Bill
HB 941
Expands the Teaching Fellows Program to recruit and support more future teachers, boosting forgivable loans, broadened eligible institutions, and stricter program standards.
Status & Timing
- Introduced: 2025 session (filed/introduced earlier in 2025)
- Passed First Reading: April 14, 2025
- Primary sponsors (NC version): Representatives Ball, Prather, Johnson‑Hostler, von Haefen
- Purpose: Rebuild and strengthen the North Carolina Teaching Fellows Program to recruit, prepare, and retain highly qualified teachers — especially in hard‑to‑staff subjects and rural areas — by expanding program capacity, increasing financial awards, and strengthening program standards and supports.
Main purpose and intent
- Address the state’s teacher shortage and declining enrollment in teacher preparation by expanding the Teaching Fellows Program’s reach, financial incentives, selection criteria, and student supports so more candidates enter and remain in teaching, particularly in qualifying licensure areas.
Key provisions and changes
- Eligible licensure areas: Specifies qualifying subjects to prioritize (examples: special education; STEM; elementary education K–6; middle grades language arts and social studies; 9–12 English, social studies, history).
- Trust Fund: Establishes/affirms a Teaching Fellows Program Trust Fund administered by the Authority in conjunction with the UNC System Office. All appropriations, loan repayments, and interest are to be placed in the Trust Fund.
- Uses of Trust Fund revenue: Limited to forgivable loans, administrative costs (including recruitment and loan recovery), mentoring/coaching for recipients, and extracurricular enhancement activities (e.g., summer programs, alumni engagement).
- Administrative transfers: Each fiscal year the Authority must transfer the greater of $600,000 or 10% of available funds to the UNC System Office for program administration; up to $600,000 may be used for extracurricular enhancement; up to $500,000 may be used for recruitment activities.
- Expansion of participating institutions: Increase the number of selected educator preparation institutions from up to 10 to up to 14, chosen to represent a diverse mix of public and private programs.
- Selection standards: The Commission must adopt stringent standards for selecting the most effective educator preparation programs, including demonstrated graduate effectiveness (value‑added/student learning impact), licensure exam pass rates, subject‑specific preparation (including a minor when applicable), early/practical field experiences, and State Board approval.
- Science of Reading: Programs enrolling elementary education candidates must provide training aligned with the State’s Science of Reading and be evaluated biennially by a third party for alignment.
- Increased financial awards: Forgivable loans are increased from prior per‑semester caps to up to $12,000 per academic year (with updated maximum durations by candidate type — e.g., up to four academic years for high school seniors and transfer students; up to two years for candidates already holding a bachelor’s degree).
Who is affected
- Primary beneficiaries: prospective teachers and teacher candidates in qualifying licensure areas who receive forgivable loans and supports.
- Higher education: up to 14 educator preparation programs (UNC and private institutions) selected to participate; UNC System Office and the administering Authority for program oversight and administration.
- K–12 public schools and students: potential long‑term benefit from increased supply of teachers in critical subjects and high‑need/rural districts.
- State finances: Trust Fund and appropriations determine fiscal impacts; administrative transfers and loan funding affect budget allocations.
Fiscal/implementation notes
- Program operates from a designated Trust Fund; annual transfers and set dollar caps for administration, recruitment, and enhancement activities are specified.
- The bill increases recurring program costs (higher loan awards and expanded supports); exact fiscal impact depends on appropriations and the number of recipients. Implementation requires coordination among the Authority, UNC System Office, selected institutions, and the State Board of Education.
Procedural next steps
- Having passed first reading, the bill proceeds through committee review and further floor consideration per the Rules, Calendar, and Operations process.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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