OPSU Graduates throwing graduation caps in the air

Panhandle Promise Scholarship

A new $2 million endowed scholarship is available for Education majors.

All about Panhandle Promise

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Community Driven Partnership

The Panhandle Promise Scholarship is a community driven partnership between Oklahoma Panhandle State University, Oklahoma panhandle public school districts, and community and private donors.

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Complementary Community Objectives

The Panhandle’s Promise Scholarship pursues two complementary objectives designed to meet the dual community needs of connecting residents with meaningful education that translates to sustainable wages and meeting the local education workforce demand.

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Impact to Our Students

The average federal grant for Panhandle State students is $4,285 annually. The average unmet “gap” for Panhandle State students is $16,800 over four years.

Scholarship Criteria

This scholarship is for students who are enrolled full-time at OPSU in one of our traditional education degree pathways:
 
Elementary Education
Music Education
Math (Teaching Option)
Health and Physical Education (Teaching Option)
English (Teaching Option)
Agriculture Education (Teaching Option)

Applications open april 2025

Panhandle Promise Scholarship is a “gap funding” scholarship.

PPS addresses the desperate need for highly trained educators in the panhandle public school district’s classrooms.

PPS removes the financial barrier and offers incentive for local residents to pursue classroom teacher degrees in exchange for a two-year commitment to teach in an Oklahoma panhandle public school.

For qualified students it pays the expected out-of-pocket costs for tuition and fees a student would face after federal and state aid, and all other scholarships the student receives, are applied. Panhandle State also funds up to $2,000 per year in tuition waivers for each eligible PPS student.

One requirement of accepting the scholarship is signing a two-year commitment letter to work as an educator in one of 16 Oklahoma panhandle public school districts.