North Carolina Teaching Fellows
at UNC-Chapel Hill We invest in you. You invest in the future.

The North Carolina Teaching Fellows Program is a competitive, merit-based forgivable loans for service program that provides up to $10,000 a year ($5,000 a semester) for up to four years to highly qualified students committed to teach in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics), special education, or elementary education (K-6) licensure area in a North Carolina public school.

As a partner institution in the North Carolina Teaching Fellows Program, UNC-Chapel Hill and the School of Education is committed to the program’s purpose — to recruit, prepare, and support students attending North Carolina’s top education programs to become highly effective teachers in the State’s public schools. We pride ourselves on providing an exceptional experience for Fellows in our teacher preperation programs, one that surrounds you with committed mentors, an uplifting cohort community, and hands‑on experiences that prepare you to lead with confidence in your first classroom.

Key Benefits of the Program

• Up to $10,000 a year in forgivable loans to support your path into teaching
• Targeted preparation for the high‑need areas of STEM, special education, and elementary education
• A close-knit cohort experience built around collaboration, reflection, and shared learning through coursework, clinical placements, experiential learning, community service, and professional development
• Exclusive seminar series featuring leading educators and experts shaping the future of teaching
• Visits to model classrooms where you’ll observe effective teaching in action
• Experiential learning opportunities on and off campus—such as Maker Space studios, Outward Bound, and the Durham County Schools Hub Farm.

What School of Education programs qualify for North Carolina Teaching Fellows?

Program Pillars

Members of the NC Teaching Fellows program at UNC-Chapel Hill join a community of learners guided by four pillars: 

• Pedagogical Content Knowledge
• Equity and Diversity
• Experiential Education
• Educator Leadership

These pillars shape every aspect of the program, including coursework, clinical experiences, experiential learning, community service, and professional development. They prepare emphasize critical themes essential to becoming a teacher and prepare graduates for meaningful, lasting careers in education.

“I liked that the program wasn’t just focused on how to be a teacher, because there’s no one way to be a teacher. We learned about different curriculums, we had great hands-on experiences, and we were able to take our student teaching experiences back to our classmates and talk about what went well or what we were struggling with.”  – Onesty McMillian (’21 B.A.Ed., ’22 M.A.T.) 

Career Outcomes 

Alumni of the School of Education’s teacher preparation programs, including North Carolina Teaching Fellows, consistently demonstrate the impact of Carolina-prepared teachers. In fact, research shows that beginning teachers from Carolina help students meet or exceed expected growth at rates higher than their peers across the state.

Learn More