Many of the Pathways sites accept less than 20 percent of applicants. Individuals wishing to apply should contact the program director of each site. Scholars receive substantial help from the Pathways program. On average, their scholarships support 80 percent of their tuition costs toward earning bachelor's or master's degrees and teaching certificates. Because these potential teachers often hold full-time jobs and have families, each site offers a variety of support programs.
Services range from day care centers and lending libraries to emergency loans and weekend courses.
In short, each Program site is committed to accommodating the needs of the Scholars and helping them achieve their educational and teaching career goals. Pathways Scholars are held to high academic standards and are expected to complete their studies within set timeframes. In return for their scholarships, they agree to teach in low-income urban or rural public schools for three years. According to an evaluation conducted by the Urban Institute on behalf of the DeWitt Wallace Reader's Digest Fund, as of August 1997, over 2,000 scholars had received scholarships. This retention rate is impressive when compared to traditional undergraduate teacher education programs that tend to lose almost one-third of their enrollment by graduation.