WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) - Kansas isn’t the only state facing a serious teacher shortage but it is a state that’s taking action. Five local schools created a public private partnership to alleviate the cost of schooling for those that will teach in the future. 

Friends University, Newman University, Southwestern College, Cowley College, and Butler Community College set aside their differences Tuesday to create a better future for future educators. 

“This is all about education and about our students and creating success pathways for them," said Dr. Kim Krull, Butler Community College's president. 

A partnership was signed into action Tuesday called ‘Educate the State.’

This partnership creates affordable transfer options for secondary education majors by discounting tuition to just $300 per credit hour. 

“We are investing in the future of our future students,” said Dr. Kathleen Jagger, Newman University president. 

That’s essentially a $22,000 scholarship to Friends University. This public private partnership solves a major problem for secondary education students and the ongoing teacher shortage. 

“If it were less expensive, more people would definitely be inclined to get a teaching degree,” said Ezekiel McGhee, a Friends education student. 

McGhee is a music education major at Friends University, who says teaching is an important career and so anything to incentivize other students to pursue that path is a positive. 

“I hope that it shows that going into education is a great profession and career and it also helps students to see that they have affordable choices for them to go into education,” said Dr. Michelle Schoon, Cowley College president. 

“This is for the students that want to stay in a small, more personal, more individually targeted education program,” said Dr. Jagger. 

All you have to do to access ‘Educate the State’ is earn a secondary education associate degree from Butler or Cowley College with a 2.75 minimum GPA, transfer to one of the three private colleges partnered, with a degree declaration of secondary education, and then you receive the discounted tuition for the final two years of schooling.  

“The more we, in higher ed, focus on raising all boats, lifting all boats rather than competing with each other, the more successful we’re going to be in higher ed in our community and beyond,” said Dr. Jagger. 

‘Educate the State’ is a program just for secondary education majors for now but many of the college presidents mentioned a desire to expand the program in future years.