Posted on December 21, 2010

Teach for America Receives $1.8 Million From Amgen Foundation

The Amgen Foundation in Thousand Oaks, California, has announced an additional $1.8 million commitment to Teach for America to increase the number of math and science graduates in the organization's teaching corps by 2013.

Each year, the foundation supports one hundred new Amgen Fellows who are selected from the top incoming corps members with undergraduate degrees in math or science. The fellows each receive a $1,000 signing bonus and are eligible to receive additional support for classroom resources or professional development. To date, the foundation has awarded more than $7 million in support of the initiative.

Through its partnership with Amgen, TFA has tripled the number of corps members teaching math and science — from 800 in 2004 to more than 2,600 today — and has reached more than 166,000 students across thirty-nine regions. In addition, the program's 2,200 math and science alumni continue to advocate for educational equity as leaders in a variety of fields.

"The Amgen Foundation shares Teach for America's commitment to high quality science and math education, which is such a critical building block for our nation's future innovation and economic strength," said Amgen Foundation president Jean J. Lim. "Teach for America's efforts are helping to encourage a new generation to explore a future in science while building the next generation of leaders in education."