The Sueños Scholars Program, through UConn Stamford and the Neag School of Education’s Teacher Certification Program for College Graduates, prepares underrepresented students for careers as educators. The program recruits, supports, and mentors undergraduate Hispanic, other minority, low-income, and high-need students to pursue a master’s degree in education to teach culturally and linguistically diverse students. It also provides community-based internship experiences in partner Alliance districts, specifically those with teacher shortages in the key areas of special education and other secondary content areas, to undergraduate and graduate students. The project will ultimately increase the number of teachers from historically marginalized communities in the state of Connecticut.

Sueños Scholars is a collaborative program between UConn Stamford and UConn’s Neag School of Education. Funding is provided by the United States Department of Education.

Academic Goals

• Improve master's degree attainment in educational psychology and curriculum and instruction plus eligibility for CT teacher certification in content-specific areas for Hispanic, other minority, low-income, and high-need students;
• Promote a student-centered climate that ensures equal access to educational opportunities, contributes to increases in retention and persistence, and improves student success through collaboration that values diversity.

Institutional Goal

• Recruit, hire, develop, retain, train, and support highly qualified and diverse administrators, faculty, and classified staff.

Fiscal Goal

• Increase fiscal stability by increasing UConn Stamford’s retention and completion rates for Hispanic, other minority, low-income, and high-need students.

Liberatory Project Goals (Garcia, 2021)

• Support UConn Stamford students in developing and sustaining antiracist orientations towards teaching and learning;
• Support the graduate school aspirations and racial identities (Garcia, 2019) of Hispanic and first generation UConn Stamford students.