A partnership between Mohave Community College and Northern Arizona University is allowing students to earn a four-year degree in elementary education without leaving the community college campus.

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A partnership between Mohave Community College and Northern Arizona University is allowing students to earn a four-year degree in elementary education without leaving the community college campus. In the spring, 16 students from Mohave Community College's Lake Havasu City campus will begin their student teaching, the last step in a program that leads to teacher certification. All but one of the students will be teaching in Lake Havasu City schools. Some students realize a total savings of $26,000 to $27,000 over two years by completing the elementary education degree in Lake Havasu City rather than going to NAU in Flagstaff. Student Tiffany Berry hopes to do her student teaching in a third-grade classroom at Starline Elementary School, the same school where she has worked as an educational assistant for the past eight years. It's also the neighborhood school her four children attended. Though the program technically helps students earn the certification required for teaching kindergarten through grade five, current Arizona Department of Education rules make it possible for graduates to be certified to teach at the middle school level and even high school. To qualify, those students must complete their student teaching at a secondary school and pass a standardized test in their content area.