2023-2024 Grant/Scholarship Information

Please note: if you’d like to apply online for one of the grants or scholarships below, you must have a Google account to login to the online application so you’ll be able to upload documents. If you don’t have a Google account, you can create one to apply online. If you don’t have a Google account and don’t want to set one up, please use the PDF version of the applications linked below and mail them to the address listed on the application.

CLASSROOM-FOCUSED GRANT

Classroom-focused Grants are intended for licensed educators* who work with students and wish to improve their practice and student achievement. You may request up to $3,000 for a project you design now and implement in the upcoming school year.

Preference is given to projects that address the needs of diverse students or students at risk of failure, involve partnerships, have measurable or observable outcomes, and are replicable.

Second-Year Classroom-focused Grant

This application is intended for previous Classroom-focused Grant recipients who wish to expand on their original objectives, and who have the potential to realize additional goals based on the learning and outcomes of their first grant. You may request up to $3,000.

A second year of funding may be awarded to a current grant recipient who meets the following guidelines:

  • Mid-year financial report has been filed with the Foundation office (November of your first grant year).
  • The applicant has reasonable expectation of being employed in the capacity to carry out the grant if awarded.
  • The applicant continues to be an active member of Education Minnesota.
  • The data sheet is completed and returned with the narrative questions to the Foundation by the deadline; these two items constitute the application.

Classroom-focused Grants are awarded once per school year.

The Classroom-focused Grant deadline is Friday, December 1, 2023 at 4 p.m.

2023-2024 Classroom-focused Grant Application, PDF

Click HERE to apply online.

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Second-Year Classroom-focused Grants are awarded once per school year.

The Second-Year Classroom-focused Grant deadline is Friday, April 5, 2024 at 4 p.m.

2023-2024 Second-Year Classroom-focused Grant Application, PDF

Click HERE to apply online.

IMPACT GRANT

The Education Minnesota Foundation seeks to encourage and support broad-based efforts to effect meaningful, long-lasting change in the policies and practices that shape teaching and learning. Using innovative program designs and projects, and in partnership with those agents most likely to assist in driving these changes, the Foundation ultimately expects to positively impact the learning experiences of Minnesota students.

The Foundation believes that a major and effective way to attain this far-reaching goal will be through systemic improvements in the experiences of educators and students. Through this grant, it is the Foundation’s intent to promote the research, development and adoption of policies and practices that will become the basis for those improvements.

The program consists of awards for theme-based, renewable projects with second-year funding contingent on progress toward the goal demonstrated in year one. IMPACT Grant projects must be coordinated by an active member of Education Minnesota who has teamed up with a nonprofit organization or their local union/school district.

Approximately $15,000 is available for one year. The budget should reflect a one-year project.

This grant program is not designed to accommodate individual classes or improvements to specific curricula; rather, the intent is to influence policies and generalized practices concerning educators and students.

Written applications will be screened with leading applicants presenting their proposal to the Foundation Board of Trustees for final decision.

IMPACT Grants are awarded once per school year.

The IMPACT Grant deadline is Friday, January 5, 2024 at 4 p.m.

2023-2024 IMPACT Grant Application, PDF

Click HERE to apply online.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT GRANT

Professional Development Grants for Individual Members

Professional Development Grants are intended to provide licensed educators, education support professionals (ESPs**) and higher education faculty of colleges and universities with opportunities to take the lead in acquiring and sharing new skills and knowledge. These skills might include new instructional ideas, technology, working with parents, attending a conference, etc. You may request a grant to acquire these skills and share your new learnings with your colleagues.

For higher education faculty applicants, it is suggested that faculty seek in-kind funds to help finance the venture. Recipients of the higher education faculty grant must pay for all grant expenses out-of-pocket, and then submit receipts to the Education Minnesota Foundation for reimbursement.

ESPs and teachers may request up to $2,000, and higher education faculty may request up to $3,000.

Professional Development Grants for Groups of Members

In addition to Professional Development Grants for individual members, the Education Minnesota Foundation also offers applicants the opportunity to submit a Professional Development Grant application for a group of members to either attend professional development or be trained at their worksite. All members named in the group application must fulfill the individual eligibility requirements to be eligible for the group application. Professional Development Grant applications for a group of members have a maximum funding request of $2,000 per person. Group applications may be for 2-6 members, and ALL members must be from the same local union or district in order to be funded. Members looking to apply for a Professional Development Grant for groups should designate one group member to be the group lead, and the group lead should collect all required information listed on the application for the other group members.

Classroom (licensed educator), ESP, and Higher Education Faculty Professional Development Grants are awarded twice per school year.

The fall 2023 Professional Development Grant deadline is Friday, November 3, 2023 at 4 p.m.
The spring 2024 Professional Development Grant deadline is Friday, April 5, 2024 at 4 p.m.

2023-2024 Professional Development Grant Application, PDF

Click HERE to apply online.

NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFIED TEACHERS SCHOLARSHIP

Eligibility:

Thanks to a generous gift from Tradition Mortgage, the Foundation also offers scholarships for licensed teachers obtaining National Board Certification. If you are an Education Minnesota member, licensed to teach, and have three years of teaching/counseling experience, you are eligible to apply for a scholarship to help offset the costs to become a National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT) through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) Program.

Because the intent of this scholarship is to encourage motivated members, initial NBCT applicants will receive preference over those who have already been through the program.

The NBCT process is demanding and complex. The Foundation board is looking to award scholarships to members who are familiar with and able to commit to that process.

Objective:

The Education Minnesota Foundation for Excellence in Teaching and Learning will grant at least ten scholarships up to $500 per component (up to $1,000 per application) toward the application process for National Board Certification once per year.

Scholarships will be paid upon proof of payment for the NBCT program.

National Board Certified Teachers Scholarships are awarded once per school year.

The 2023-2024 NBCT Scholarship deadline is Friday, November 3, 2023 at 4 p.m.

2023-2024 National Board Certified Teachers Scholarship Application, PDF

Click HERE to apply online.

* Includes classroom teachers, guidance counselors and others who require a license to carry out their work with students

** ESPs include classroom paraprofessionals, clerical staff, bus drivers, etc. who are members of Education Minnesota ESP bargaining units