For many aspiring educators from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds, entering a preparation program is only the beginning. Once enrolled, they often encounter barriers that make completion just out of reach.

Although many educator preparation programs have attempted to adopt initiatives, scholarships, and other recruitment strategies to diversify the teacher workforce, these strategies often emphasize access over completion. For many teacher candidates of color, the greatest challenges emerge after enrollment, when financial burdens, isolation, and inequitable clinical experiences threaten their ability to complete their preparation programs.

Navigating through this program revealed that despite stated institutional and programmatic goals of recruiting and retaining teacher candidates of color, there were many persistent barriers to belonging and program completion that remained for candidates like me.

My own experience reflects these challenges. I recently completed my undergraduate teacher education program at a public, four-year predominantly white institution, where I was the only Black woman in my cohort. Navigating through this program revealed that despite stated institutional and programmatic goals of recruiting and retaining teacher candidates of color, there were many persistent barriers to belonging and program completion that remained for candidates like me.

During my various field experiences, I was placed in multiple racially hostile environments where concerns about my safety and treatment as a Black woman often overshadowed my ability to focus on developing as an educator. These placements included schools in districts with documented instances of racial discrimination, where I encountered environments that did not always feel welcoming or affirming. In one placement, I was ultimately removed from the classroom after my mentor teacher delivered a racially insensitive history lesson. I was placed in the position of navigating an environment that raised serious concerns about how race was being discussed and taught in the classroom.

I entered these environments with anxiety about how I would be treated because of my race, rather than being able to focus fully on learning from clinical experience, building relationships with students, and developing my instructional practice. These experiences demonstrated how the quality and climate of clinical placements can significantly shape teacher candidates’ sense of belonging, confidence, and ability to persist in the profession. Entering these environments with uncertainty about whether I would be welcomed or face discrimination created an additional emotional burden that no teacher candidate should experience. Additionally, as with many other students, I balanced these things while managing employment, college coursework, and other responsibilities.

My story does not stand alone. In 2016, EdTrust published “Through Our Eyes: Perspectives and Reflections From Black Teachers”, a qualitative study with data from focus group sessions of 150 Black teachers from across the country. Black teachers expressed a need to prove their worth due to repeated experiences of being perceived as subpar educators. “I think it’s just stereotypes that are there, that exist of people of color that we are not as educated or knowledgeable as our counter[parts]. I think that mindset is still there, that fixed mindset that’s there,” said one participant. For Black teacher candidates and professionals, this struggle often persists through teacher education programs into their careers.

These challenges became increasingly concerning and dire as policy changes on a federal and state level became more restrictive. As a result of pressure from the Trump administration to eradicate so-called anti-DEI agendas, institutions have scaled back on programs and initiatives created to support students of color. This raises important questions about how teacher education programs can continue providing support candidates of color need to navigate and complete their programs.

In short, we need teachers of color. Teachers of color provide social and academic benefits for all students, particularly students of color, who often thrive in classrooms led by teachers who share their racial and cultural background. In the most recent data on public school teachers from 2020-2021, only 20% of teachers identified as teachers of color. In fall 2022, 56% of public school students identified as students of color. Clearly, the growth of teacher diversity has not kept up with the diversity of student demographics, due in large part to the adverse conditions teachers of color face entering the teacher pipeline as well as once they’re in the profession.

Three major leaks in the teacher pipeline include financial barriers, clinical experiences, and school and preparation program climate.

Leak #1: Financial Barriers

Teacher education programs come with required costs for completion. Unpaid full-time student teaching, certification and testing fees, transportation to clinical experiences, and inability to maintain employment while completing student teaching create substantial financial strain. Teacher candidates of color, who disproportionately face wealth gaps, face financial barriers that make persistence to graduation less about commitment and more about affordability. Without adequate financial support, talented future educators may delay completion, take on additional debt, or leave their programs altogether.

Leak #2: Clinical Experiences

Clinical placements, including service learning, field experience, and student teaching are intended to prepare future educators for the realities of the classroom. These experiences have the potential to either strengthen a candidate’s confidence and sense of belonging or reinforce their feelings of isolation. Teacher candidates of color who are placed in schools lacking culturally affirming environments or paired with mentors who are unprepared to support diverse candidates may encounter bias, limited opportunities for meaningful feedback, or a lack of professional encouragement. Placements are often the bridge between a candidate’s learning and preparation for practice — negative experiences can influence not only program completion but also candidates’ decisions to enter and remain in the profession.

Leak #3: Academic Preparation Program Climate

A sense of belonging and supportive environments are essential for teacher candidates to thrive and move toward completion. Academic preparation is important, but persistence also depends on whether candidates feel valued, connected, and supported throughout their educator preparation journey. Experiences of racial isolation, microaggressions, and limited representation among faculty detract from candidates’ sense of belonging. Failure to maintain inclusive learning communities detracts from the total number of talented future educators of color.

Recommendations for Teacher Education Programs

Educator preparation programs should shift their focus toward comprehensive candidate success. To combat disproportionate barriers, teacher candidates of color must feel a sense of belonging through mentorship, financial support, and inclusive clinical experiences. By embedding these supports into core program design rather than treating them as standalone diversity initiatives, educator preparation programs can continue advancing a more representative teacher workforce despite evolving policy constraints.

Recommendation #1: Address Financial Barriers

Stress from cost of attendance associated with teacher preparation can be eased through institutional and programmatic supports. These supports may include emergency grants, scholarships, transportation assistance for clinical placements, and funding to cover certification and licensure examination fees. While paid student teaching opportunities may not be possible, institutions may offer other scholarship supports to reduce the financial strain of full-time clinical experiences. Addressing these costs can improve program completion, as financial barriers disproportionately affect candidates from underserved communities.

Recommendation #2: Expand Support Models

Educator preparation programs should create intentional communities of mentors and peers where teacher candidates of color can connect through shared experiences, build professional networks, and receive ongoing academic and emotional support. A sense of belonging is consistently associated with increased persistence and program completion and decreased isolation. Rather than relying solely on initiatives that may be vulnerable to changing policy agendas, programs can embed mentorship, peer learning communities, affinity groups, and inclusive student success practices into the core design of educator preparation so that all candidates have access to meaningful support.

Recommendation #3: Improve Clinical Placement Quality

Programs should ensure that teacher candidates of color are placed in environments where their learning and professional growth can be of focus instead of concerns of safety due to racially hostile environments. Programs should evaluate school partnerships by considering school cultural climate, mentor quality, and demonstrated commitment to supporting teacher candidates of diverse backgrounds. Additionally, institutions should establish and maintain clear reporting procedures and responsive support systems for candidates who experience discrimination, bias, or exclusion during all levels of field experiences. Providing consistent institutional support helps ensure that negative placement experiences do not become barriers to program completion.

Diversifying the educator workforce is often framed as a recruitment challenge. It is equally a challenge of ensuring teacher candidates retention through intentional support services. Until educator preparation programs address the areas where talented candidates of color leave the pipeline, we will continue celebrating increased enrollment while overlooking the systems that prevent many future educators from reaching the classroom.

Every teacher candidate who leaves because of avoidable institutional barriers represents not only an individual loss, but also a missed opportunity for students, schools, and the future of an educator workforce that reflects the diversity of our nation.

Hannah Warren was a 2026 summer development intern

Photo by Allison Shelley/Complete College Photo Library