The Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois program is a teacher preparation and tuition assistance program for high school seniors and freshman and sophomore Illinois college students who have the determination and drive to be highly effective teachers in Illinois schools-of-need. Benefits: Obtain a teaching license within 15 months. Up to $25,000 stipend to apply to coursework and/or housing. One-year residency and training program in a targeted partner school district in southern, central, or western Illinois. Pursue coursework and earn credit at a partner university. Job placement in a partner school district in southern, central, or western Illinois; begin teaching full-time in Fall 2023. Instruction from award-winning educators. Mentoring in the first years of teaching. Eligibility: College seniors attending universities or colleges who are not currently on a teaching pathway. Career-changers who hold bachelor's degrees. Illinois residents, U.S. citizens, eligible non-citizens, or Illinois Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students live in or are from communities in southern, central, or western Illinois. Able to commit to working in an Illinois school-of-need for four years after program completion.