Walton Family Foundation Awards Grant to Create Montessori Bachelor’s Degree

Walton Family Foundation Awards $4.8 Million Grant to the University of Hartford and Montessori Training Center Northeast to Create Montessori Bachelor’s Degree Program.

The award is one of the largest educational grants in the University’s history.

(Hartford, Conn.) The University of Hartford and the Montessori Training Center Northeast (MTCNE) have been awarded a fund directed by James Walton of the Walton Family Foundation to establish an undergraduate Montessori education program at the University and conduct research about Montessori educator preparation over the next five years. In awarding this competitive grant, the Walton Family Foundation recognizes the decades-long partnership between the two institutions and the success of their collaborative master’s program which incorporates Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) teacher training delivered by MTCNE into the master’s in education curriculum.  

“We are honored that the Walton Family Foundation recognizes our rigorous academic programming and the exemplary long-standing partnership that makes a program of distinction possible,” said University of Hartford President Walter Harrison.

This is one of the largest educational grants the University has been awarded in its 60-year history. The funds will be used to establish the program, provide tuition assistance to eligible students who reflect a commitment to degree completion, and conduct research to evaluate the effectiveness of the new program as well as potential implications for Montessori educators and educator preparation. The grant is designed so that the Montessori bachelor’s degree becomes a University of Hartford tuition-based, self-sustaining program by the end of 2022.  

The partners will launch the bachelor’s degree program on campus this fall for both early childhood and elementary education with a Montessori concentration.

Training with the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) at MTCNE, located in Hartford, Conn., will be incorporated in the curriculum so that graduates will earn a bachelor’s degree and an internationally-recognized AMI diploma. In addition, graduates will be eligible for Connecticut state teaching certification.

The program is open to applicants who are adult learners, career enhancement candidates, community college transfers, and incoming first-year students.

Visit hartford.edu/montessori for application and tuition assistance details.

Currently, the University and MTCNE offer the only program in the northeast that combines Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) teacher training with a graduate degree.