Two new state grants totaling nearly $750,000 will help Fresno Pacific University prepare teachers for the classroom on an accelerated timeline, the university announced this week.

Grants from the California Commission for Teacher Credentialing will help the southeast Fresno private university consolidate its teacher education and credentialing from five years to four with direct-transfer partnerships with regional community colleges, including Fresno City, Clovis, Reedley, and College of the Sequoias in Visalia.

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The planning grants to Fresno Pacific were among a total of $20 million in grants made available through the commission to regionally accredited colleges and universities to develop four-year degree and credential programs for teacher training in the following areas where the state has identified the greatest need for teachers: special education, bilingual education, science, health, computer science, technology, engineering, mathematics, transitional kindergarten, and kindergarten.

Fresno Pacific was one of 19 institutions to receive a planning grant and one of 15 to get an implementation grant in the round of funding.

Fresno Pacific received a $499,055 Integrated Teacher Preparation Program Implementation and Expansion grant for nine credential pathways taught at the university, and a $249,995 Integrated Teacher Preparation Program Planning grant for the integrated early childhood development (prekindergarten to grade 3) credential.

“This partnership with California Commission on Teacher Credentialing is a crucial investment in FPU, its students, and a synergistic way for FPU to connect with our local community colleges and together inspire future generations of Central Valley teachers,” said Anna James Miller, director of grant funding support and foundations relations who provided project management, budgeting, and editing support for both grants.