National Board Certification Scholarship

Scholarship Funds for Teachers

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification

State law, 20-A MRSA Section 13013-A subsection 5 & 6; as Amended by PL 2012 c. 702, established the National Board Certification Scholarship Fund to encourage teachers to apply to and enroll in the certification program offered by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, or its successor organization.

A school administrative unit, or a publicly supported secondary school, may request scholarship funds on behalf of its teachers who meet the requirements.

For the current fiscal year, the department shall allocate $75,000 to the scholarship fund. The department shall award an amount equal to the cost of the certification program less any other funds received by the applicant to teachers accepted into the certification program annually.

Eligibility

In order to receive scholarship funds on behalf of a teacher, the school administrative unit or a publicly supported secondary school must certify to the department that the teacher:

• Is currently employed by a school administrative unit or a publicly supported secondary school;
• Has completed at least 3 years of teaching in the State;
• Has agreed to mentor at least one other teacher employed in the State through the national board certification process to apply to and enroll in the certification program;
• Has provided documentation of acceptance into the certification program; and
• Has or will provide Proof of Purchase for all Eligible Components; and
• Has disclosed any other funds received to cover the cost of the certification program.

Application/Important Dates

• August 8 - Oct. 15: Scholarship window open
• November 15: Scholarship applicant notification
• December 15: Scholarship funds sent to School Administrative Units, publicly supported secondary school,  or CTE region 

Scholarships will fund first attempt for Components 1 - 4. Scholarship funds may not be used for retakes, renewals, or Maintenance of Certification (MOC). Scholarships will be awarded based on the following priorities:

1. Applicant has already started the process (submitted one or more components to NBPTS).
2. Applicant is employed in a high-needs school (at least 50% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch).

The statute provides that, the superintendent of schools of a School Administrative Unit (SAU) or the Director of a publicly supported secondary school or CTE Region, request scholarship funds on behalf of a teacher who has met all the eligibility requirements.

2023-24 National Board Scholarship Form
XLXS Format (18.04 KB)
PDF Format (24.59 KB)

Note: Questions 1-7 have a drop-down menu for responses.  If this drop-down is not compatible with your computer, it is fine to fill in the answers manually.  For Q1-Q6, the answer should be yes/no; for Q7, the response will either be 0, 1, 2, or 3.

The School Administrative Unit, publicly supported secondary school, or CTE Region are responsible to ensure that all eligibility requirements are met and that copies of supporting documentation are kept on file and available upon request by the Commissioner's office.

Method of Payment

 The amount of the payment for the cost of enrollment in the certificate program less any other funds received by the applicant will be sent to the School Administrative Unit (SAU), publicly supported secondary school, or CTE Region until the limited amount of 30 teachers have received funds from the scholarship program. 

The School Administrative Unit, publicly supported secondary school, or CTE Region is then responsible for issuing the scholarship funds to the eligible teacher.

Note: The National Board Scholarship is a reimbursement for tuition, not a salary supplement. The coding of Scholarship payments is different than the Salary Supplement. Questions on how to code these can be directed to Maine DOE's School Finance Team.

If you have any questions regarding the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification Scholarship Fund, please contact Michael Perry at Michael.T.Perry@Maine.gov.