Florida International University received some good news this week as the United State Department of Education will bestow the university with a new grant aimed towards training more teachers certified to work with students who have autism.

According to fiu.edu, the grant is worth $1.25 million and will be used to pay for the tuition of students who attend the school to attain their Master’s of Science in Special Education.

“Beginning in the fall semester, the $1.25 million grant, Project OPERATE, will pay for the tuition of nine students who are accepted into the accelerated master’s program every year through 2020.”

The program is just 12-months but is targeted at “educators who already teach students on the autism spectrum.”

Information posted in FIU’s article portends that more students will continue to be identified as autistic, so the need for more educators who work in this discipline will increase as well.

Not only is this great news for FIU, it is a positive for those who work in education. Hopefully by graduating more students through this program, we will see an increase in attention paid to special education and autism. With the rapid rate at which children are being diagnosed with spectrum issues, this next generation of students must know how to help students with autism succeed. I hope it is only a matter of time before more colleges have robust autism-in-education training programs, too.

For any students who may want to apply for the program, the deadline to do so is August 3rd. The deadline to receive consideration for Project OPERATE is July 15th, and details may be found by e-mailing [email protected].