LSU’s GeauxTeach STEM program is helping bridge the national teacher shortage by offering a prestigious scholarship.
The scholarship comes from a $1.2 million grant that LSU received, awarding science and math students $20,000 each year if they go into the second education program pathway of GeauxTeach STEM in their junior and senior years.
According to a 2025 analysis by the Learning Policy Institute, in 31 states and Washington, D.C. there are 45,582 unfilled teacher positions nationwide, which is a problem the scholarship program is meant to solve.
The program also has a service requirement, working with TRIO programs at LSU, designed to help disadvantaged students. For each year that a student is in the program, they must work two years at a high-needs school district.
“Their service requirements are that they are to work with Upward Bound, which is one of LSU’s TRIO programs,” Sarah Rispone said. “TRIO programs are programs created for high-needs students in high-needs settings.”
Rispone is the GeauxTeach STEM manager. She directly works with six students — four seniors and two juniors — who are recipients of the Noyce scholarship program.
“We are building sustainable support so that our teams can continue to win and continue to excel in practice, in the field,” Rispone said.
GeauxTeach STEM is part of the LSU College of Science. The scholarship allows students to continue their degree in science or math while also earning a teaching certificate. Because of the national shortage of qualified STEM teachers, recipients of the program are not required to teach in Louisiana.
Laura Carroll is a biology junior with a concentration in secondary education. She is a recipient of the scholarship and will be awarded up to $40,000 in her two years of eligibility. In addition, for each year that a student is in the program, they must work two years at a high-needs school district.
“Coming to LSU was a big deal because I didn’t know if I would have the money to come here, that I’d have to work really hard to get scholarships, and I knew I was going to have a lot of loans,” Carroll said. “But with the Noyce program, I don’t have to worry about that anymore. I can focus on my education, and I can focus on bettering myself.”
Tailenn Fungcharoen-McCray is a mathematics senior also eligible for the program. She originally wanted to work in a lab, but her extroverted personality and passion for helping others helped guide her towards an education track. Fungcharoen-McCray is expected to graduate in May 2026.
“Stumbling upon Geaux Teach was the best thing [that] could have happened for me,” Fungcharoen-McCray said. “ The faculty, or master teachers, are great, and personally, the best thing I would say up to this point that GeauxTeach has given me is Mrs. Rispone. Mrs. Rispone has been the person that I can go to with education, with personal things, and I know that she truly cares about my success.”
While the Noyce scholarships provide a comfortable amount of money for eligible students to continue their education, the community cultivated through GeauxTeach STEM provides students with a culture and family richer than any financial incentive.
“The biggest piece that’s critical to our program is community,” Rispone said. “Building that community with our scholars is looking through the different levels of mentoring, the extra meetings we have them go through at different lenses of teaching. It’s looking at even more support once you graduate. We are building a community. We are building a family.”
