Applicant Requirements

• IMPORTANT! Veterans interested in this opportunity are not eligible to apply for this grant.
• Local education agencies (LEAs), both traditional public school districts and public school academies (PSAs), are eligible to complete the application on behalf of veterans.

Participant Requirements

• Possess a bachelor's degree from a public or private university.
• Must be enrolled in student teaching at a Michigan approved educator preparation provider.
• Be a veteran as defined by MCL 35.61.

• It must be for a duration of 1 semester.
  • For traditional route candidates, a semester is defined as 12-15 weeks.
  • For alternative route candidates, a semester is defined as 16-18 weeks.
• The veteran participant(s) must serve as a student teacher at a school operated by the district while shadowing a mentor teacher during the duration of the training. To the extent possible, the participating veteran must be paired with a mentor teacher who teaches in the applicable subject or grade level in which the participating veteran is seeking teacher certification.
• After the veteran participant has completed the semester of student teaching, the mentor teacher they were paired with must either approve or disapprove their completion of student teaching and recommend or not recommend their deployment into teaching in classrooms and certification. The participating veteran is not considered to have completed student teaching unless their mentor teacher has approved.
• Individuals who are disapproved for completion of the semester of student teaching may participate for 1 additional semester.

Student Teaching

Grant funds may be used to provide a salary equivalent to the starting teacher salary within applying district for participating veterans for their completion of up to 2 semesters of student teaching in an amount that equals the starting teacher salary in the district. 

student teacher salary = starting teacher salary in district

Funding may also support:

• The payment of costs and fees associated with completion of each subject area examination for each subject area in which a participating veteran is seeking teacher certification.
• The hiring of support staff to implement the mentorship program described in this section.
• Stipends for mentor teachers to support program participants and completers. 

Potential Salary Support

Employment as a teacher

Until September 30, 2027, grant funds may be used to support the salary of participating veterans who finish the program and earn their certification in the following manner:

• If the highest military salary < starting teacher salary in district, then the district is responsible for paying for the full starting teacher salary without grant support.
• If the veteran’s highest yearly salary received in the military is higher than the starting teacher salary in the district, the district pledges to provide the program completer a salary equal to the district’s starting teacher salary. In addition, the program completer will receive 50% of the difference between their highest military salary and the starting teacher salary in grant funding.

However, the program completer’s total salary (with the total including the district salary and the funds provided by with this grant) must not exceed the highest teacher salary in the district.

If the highest military salary (y) > starting teacher salary in district (x), then x + 0.5(y-x).

IMPORTANT:

By applying for this grant, districts pledge to compensate qualified veterans by sustaining their salary during the phase down process of grant funds as described in section (2)(d).

A pledge that the district will continue to pay qualified troops-to-teachers members described in subsection (3)(b) and (e) a salary, as described in subsection (3)(b) or (e), as applicable, after September 30, 2027.

LEAs and PSAs are welcome to apply by completing the following steps: 

1. Review this webpage's information to familiarize yourself with the most recent information about the grants.  
2. Establish or confirm your access to MiLogin for Third Party Users.
3. Login and request access to the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) as the agency and Grant Electronic Monitoring System/Michigan Administrative Review System (GEMS/MARS) as the application.  Note:  this will ONLY work on the Third Party MiLogin site.  
4. Collaborate with your business office to establish a budget and budget explanations.   
5. Login and access GEMS/MARS. Find the Questionnaire titled Future Proud Michigan Educator Veterans Grant Application 2023 and click the "view questionnaire" icon. 
6. Complete the application online GEMS/MARS application and click submit.
7. The department is unable to provide status for up to 6 weeks following the submission of the application.  

If you have any questions about this grant, please complete the Military Veteran Grant Survey.

Thank you for serving our Nation and know that we stand ready to support and assist you to the best of our ability. We salute you!

Learn more about other available supports and resources for Military Veterans.