RALEIGH — Four future teachers from Bladen County are among a record 522 that have committed to participate in the state-funded North Carolina Teaching Fellows program during the 2026-27 academic year.
Nicholas Loscalzo of Bladenboro, Brittany Barnett of Clarkton, and Elizabethtown’s Lillian DeVane and Octavian Lloyd are part of the competitive, merit-based forgivable loan program that provides tuition assistance of up to $10,000 per year for qualified students committed to teaching elementary education, special education, science, technology, engineering or math in a North Carolina public school. Those loans are fully forgiven once recipients meet teaching requirements in North Carolina public schools – one year of teaching for each year the award was received.
“The sustained growth of the NCTF Program is exciting for the future of education in North Carolina and is a result of strategic recruitment activities with our partner institutions, local school districts, and collaborations with other state agencies to enhance the teacher workforce pipeline,” said Dr. Bennett Jones, director of the North Carolina Teaching Fellows Program. “We are grateful for the continued support of lawmakers and educational leaders across the state as the NCTF Program is poised to lead efforts in the recruitment, preparation, and support of future teachers in North Carolina.”
NC Teaching Fellows may attend any of the program’s 10 partner institutions, pending institutional admission. Those institutions include Appalachian State, East Carolina, Elon, Fayetteville State, N.C. A&T State, N.C. State, Meredith, UNC Charlotte, UNC Chapel Hill and UNC Pembroke.
Student acceptances rose from 498 last year. The program’s new class of 522 students will bring the total number of active fellows to around 1,250 during the next school year, an over 340% increase from the number of active fellows just four years ago.
North Carolina has a growing teacher workforce shortage, according to the UNC System’s recent workforce alignment study. As job demand increases, the UNC System plays an important role in developing talent, producing more than 75% of bachelor’s and higher degrees in critical fields like education.
Experienced teachers from educator preparation programs have a 55 percent lower attrition rate compared to teachers who enter the profession via Residency Licensure pathways, according to a report from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.
This year’s award recipients hail from 77 North Carolina counties and 11 states. Of the total, 345 of the recipients intend to study elementary education, 93 are to study special education, and 84 are pursuing licensure in STEM education.
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