College of Education and Human Development

Hattie M. Strong Foundation reaches a decade of scholarship support to CEHD students

The Hattie M. Strong Foundation Scholarship is presented to students who are in their final year of enrollment in an initial teacher preparation licensure program through the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD). The candidates must have academic merit and financial need.

Starting in 1928, the Hattie M. Strong Foundation (HMSF) had run one of the earliest and most successful student loan programs in the country providing zero interest loans with flexible repayment schedules tied to the economic realities of a student’s career choice. In 2009, the HMSF Board of Directors decided to confront a different kind of economic reality; the astonishingly high levels of debt that today’s college graduates must incur to complete their studies.

In alignment with the foundation’s focus on education, they replaced the student loan program with a scholarship program aimed at college students enrolled in teacher-training programs. Specifically, the HMSF hopes to reduce financial pressure during the student-teaching semester, when a student’s ability to offset expenses with outside employment is curtailed by the rigor of full-time work in the classroom.

The College of Education and Human Development students have been the recipients of the Strong Scholars awards since 2014. Fifty-five students have each received the $5,000 award. In 2024, the Hattie Strong Foundation supported six exceptional future teachers.