Fresno State received a major tool in the campaign to battle teacher shortages with two grants totaling $498,266 from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, the California State University Office of the Chancellor announced today. Fresno State is one of 17 in the 23-campus CSU system that garnered $5.19 million of the $8 million in Integrated Program Grants with a special focus on expanding the number of teacher candidates earning STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and bilingual credentials — the two most critical areas of need for teachers in California. The University’s Kremen School of Education and Human Development is one of the seven schools in the system to offer a four-year credentialing program to its students. With the grants, 16 additional campuses will establish four-year credentialing programs. The grants will also help teacher candidates save on tuition. “CSU teacher candidates will save, on average, about $20,000 by eliminating the cost of an additional year of tuition, college-related expenses and textbooks,” said Marquita Grenot-Scheyer, assistant vice chancellor of the CSU Teacher Education Program and Public School Programs. See CSU press release: bit.ly/2h5UwUF.