Groton — A new grant award to the University of Connecticut at Avery Point will make it less expensive for 24 students to become science teachers.

Robert Noyce, founder of Intel, left behind a sizable fortune his family thought should support science education, and Avery Point has been authorized to award 24 scholarships in his name during the next four years.

The campus will grant six $30,000 scholarships per year to future science teachers.

The first scholarships will be awarded next year for the 2016-17 academic year, said Megan Pichette, program assistant for the Teacher Certification Program for College Graduates at UConn-Avery Point.

Under the Noyce scholarship program, students will not have to pay back any of the scholarship money if they take a teaching job after graduation in a "high needs" school, designated based on student income, faculty turnover and a lack of fully certified science teachers.

Nearly half of Connecticut high schools are considered high needs, according to a UConn-Avery Point news release. The National Science Foundation administers Noyce scholarships.

"It's an incentive for people who want to go out and spread this knowledge" to teach in areas where students are struggling, Pichette said.

The idea is that with highly trained faculty, student performance in science will improve, she said.

The teaching program at UConn-Avery Point is a master's degree in education that also recommends to the Connecticut State Department of Education that its graduates be granted teacher certification.

The campus offers the program in math and the sciences, including biology, chemistry, physics, earth science and general science.

Students must take an exam demonstrating knowledge of their subject area before starting in the master's program. Tuition is $27,000, which leaves those who receive Noyce scholarships $3,000 to spend as needed.

"They can use it for books, they can use it for a computer, they can use it for rent," Pichette said. "It's their money, as long as they commit to teaching in a high needs school."

Students receive additional funds for professional development and classroom equipment.

The accelerated program starts in June and offers a graduate degree in 11 months. Students take two, six-week sessions of graduate-level course work to prepare for student teaching in the fall.

In the spring, they return to campus for more graduate-level courses while completing an internship and research project at a local school district. 

Students graduate the first week in May.

"They do 45 graduate level credits, plus their student teaching, which is an additional nine credits," Pichette said. The program is so rigorous most cannot work outside of it, she said.

"The program is really geared toward career changers," she said. "I would say the average age of the students is 30 years old."

In the last two years, 20 science, technology, engineering and math teachers have graduated from UConn-Avery Point and immediately taken jobs in area middle schools and high schools, the campus reported.

For information on the program, call (860) 405-9302.

d.straszheim@theday.com

Twitter: @DStraszheim