TTU College of Education prepares teachers to tackle statewide shortage

The concern driving that declaration was specific: not just a lack of teachers, but a lack of teachers who received lasting training and certification and then actually stayed in classrooms. Texas has been losing educators faster than it can replace them, and Lubbock, home to one of the state's largest teacher-preparation programs, sits at the center of the effort to reverse that trend.

TTU's approach leans on extended time in schools rather than condensed student teaching. By requiring teacher residents to spend about a year working directly with students, the program bets that deeper classroom experience produces educators who stick around rather than burning out or leaving the profession in the first few years.

For Lubbock families and school districts across the South Plains, the pipeline matters. Schools that can't fill seats with trained, certified teachers end up leaning on substitutes or oversized classes, and the kids inside those rooms feel it first.