After recent announcements of teacher shortages in Mississippi, Mississippi State University, Meridian campus, says it's taking measures to turn that around.

"There's a severe shortage of new young teachers going into the field in education, and we need to produce more teachers, administrators, and counselors to fill those positions," said Dr. George Thomas, chair of the Division of Education.

The retirement of many long-time educators may be the reason for that increasing shortage. Thomas said MSU Meridian is ready to educate future educators.

The MSU Meridian Division of Education is offering a diversity of methods by which future educators can complete their own education.

The methods range from online course work to night and weekend courses so that students can work and go to school at the same time. And yes, the traditional daytime class attendance is also available.

Programs offered include elementary education, secondary education, education administration, and counselor education.

Requirements for the undergraduate program include 2 years of college with a 2.5 grade point average. The program can be completed in about 2 years.

Time to complete the graduate program ranges from just over a year to four years.

This is good for more than just the education field. There are also benefits for Meridian as a community.

"When people want to move to Meridian, they look at the schools. Do you have good teachers? Are you providing good teachers? Can my children go to college while they're there? Can they finish college degrees while they're here? A lot of businesses, if they're considering moving a business here, they want to know if their employees can finish a degree here," Thomas said.

But the most important thing, Thomas says, is to turn out high quality public school teachers.