LMU Receives $6.9 Million Grant for Teacher Training

Loyola Marymount University will use the federal funding to prepare educators for underserved Los Angeles schools.

Updated on Oct. 20, 2026 in Financial Aid

LMU Receives $6.9 Million Grant for Teacher Training

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Loyola Marymount University has been awarded a $6.9 million federal Teacher Quality Partnership grant to support the Learning, Teaching, and Leading Together program. This five-year initiative aims to prepare 80 new teachers and 30 school leaders for work in underserved Los Angeles communities.

Why it matters

The program addresses chronic shortages of fully credentialed teachers and educational leaders in the region. By providing intensive classroom-based training, it seeks to improve academic achievement in literacy and mathematics for thousands of local students.

The five-year grant is expected to directly support approximately 8,700 students across 22 local education agencies. This initiative builds on the previous Avance Teacher Residency program, which prepared more than 40 teachers over three years.

The players

Loyola Marymount University

This private Catholic research university in Los Angeles is the primary recipient and administrator of the new federal grant.

Camino Nuevo Charter Academy

This network of charter schools serves as a key partner for the teacher residency and leadership training components of the program.

U.S. Department of Education

This federal executive department is responsible for providing federal financial aid and establishing policies for the national education system.

The details

The initiative partners with organizations like Camino Nuevo Charter Academy to combine residency-style classroom training with formal academic coursework. The program is specifically designed to aid multilingual learners, students with disabilities, and those from low-income households.

The Avance Teacher Residency program operated over the past three years.
The university announced the receipt of the federal grant in October 2026.
The new grant program is scheduled to span five years.

Culture Shift

This initiative reflects a broader movement toward residency-based training models that prioritize hands-on classroom experience over traditional pedagogical theory. It shifts the regional landscape by integrating university-level oversight directly into the daily operations of local charter and district schools.

Local students in participating districts will have access to more fully credentialed teachers and administrative leaders trained specifically for diverse classroom environments. Parents and community members can expect these schools to focus more heavily on literacy and mathematics outcomes over the next five years.

The takeaway

This grant provides a scalable model for addressing teacher shortages by embedding training directly within underserved school networks. Educators and aspiring school leaders in the area should monitor future application cycles for the residency program to participate in these development opportunities.