ANDERSON, Ind. (AP): A new scholarship program seeks to give students money to attend college if they commit to teaching in Indiana for five years after completing their degrees.

The Herald Bulletin reports the Indiana Commission for Higher Education’s Next Generation Hoosier Educators Scholarship provides up to $7,500 for each year of college. Up to 200 scholarships will be awarded based on academic achievement, a teacher nomination and an interview.

The program comes as the state is experiencing an ongoing teacher shortage. The Indiana Department of Education reported a nearly 63 percent drop in the number of licenses issued to first-time teachers in 2015.

Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education Teresa Lubbers says the scholarship is designed to attract Indiana’s best students to teaching and prepare them for the profession.