Candidate loans and scholarships

MPTF scholarship: The Montana Professional Teaching Foundation provides between 10-20 scholarships per year for Montana teachers interested in pursuing National Board Certification. The scholarships pay up to $1,150 per candidate. The full fee for National Board Certification candidacy is $2,300.

Scholarships are now available for the 2008-09 school year.

To be eligible for the scholarship, a teacher must have taught a minimum of fiveyears in an accredited Montana school and be currently employed as a Montana classroom teacher.

If you are interested in receiving an application packet for this scholarship, please contact Marco Ferro at mferro@mea-mft.org or at 1-800-398-0826 and simply request that you be added to the National Board Certification Scholarship mailing list. An application packet will be sent to you immediately.

All candidates must complete a National Board Certification application on-line at www.nbpts.org, prior to becoming eligible for the MPTF subsidy scholarship. MPTF must receive a printed copy of your on-line application, submitted with your completed scholarship application.

NEA loans: NEA has developed a member benefit program to provide low-interest loans to MEA-MFT members who pursue National Board Certification. To find out more about this exciting opportunity, please visit www.neamb.com/loans/loanbc.jsp

Other scholarships and supports: Several scholarship opportunities become available during the course of any year for teachers interested in pursuing National Board Cerficiation. To determine if you are eligible for scholarship assistance, check the National Board's Candidate Resource Center at: www.nbpts.org/candidates/availscholar.cfm

Banking scores and retake scholarships: Thanks to the generosity of the Washington Mutual Corporation, MPTF is pleased to offer retake scholarships for Montana teachers who do not become certified after their first effort. Because all candidates can "bank" their scores, "retakes" typically involve retaking no more than 2-3 sections of the National Board Certification process.

The fee for each section is $300 and the Washington Mutual Scholarship may be used to retake up to two sections, depending on available funding.

Retake candidates interested in receiving this scholarship assistance should contact Marco Ferro directly at mferro@mea-mft.org. You'll find additional information by scrolling down to the Washington Mutual Scholarship section of the following web site: www.nbpts.org/candidates/availscholar.cfm