Are you a college student looking to grow as a leader and make a tangible difference this summer? Become a Breakthrough Teaching Fellow! This paid, hands-on, high-support teaching opportunity is open to undergraduates of all majors ready for a meaningful summer experience that helps launch their path forward. Former Teaching Fellows tell us again and again: Breakthrough is the summer that changes everything.
Our Near-Peer Model
For more than 45 years, we have recruited and trained college students to serve as summer teachers and mentors to middle school students across our 25-affiliate network. We have seen time and time again that this proximity in age and experience has led to strong relationships and outcomes for both students and Teaching Fellows. Our model has a dual impact: Teaching Fellows help students thrive by fostering classrooms full of rigor, confidence, and belonging – and they experience profound growth as values-driven leaders.
Last summer, Breakthrough Teaching Fellows supported 10,500+ students, more than 70% of whom maintained or improved their reading or math skills over the summer, countering typical summer learning loss. When they say “yes” to Breakthrough, Teaching Fellows become part of a proven instructional model that has real impact.
Teaching Fellow Transformations
Teaching Fellows leave their Breakthrough summer changed. Ninety-six percent (96%) report deepening their leadership skills, and 94% would recommend Breakthrough to a friend interested in education. And Fellows come from a wide range of academic backgrounds, which means you don’t have to see teaching as your long-term path to find value in this fellowship. While 80% are non-education majors, more than half begin their careers in the classroom, inspired by their summer of impact.
Breakthrough is often where Fellows discover not just what they’re good at, but who they want to become – as leaders, collaborators, and contributors to their communities. For those who choose paths outside the classroom, many alumni move into education leadership, advocacy, nonprofit, and private sector work, helping expand opportunity and strengthen organizations and communities.
Join A Growing Community
When you join Breakthrough, you become part of a movement. You become part of the 40,000+ strong student and Teaching Fellow alumni community. And it doesn’t stop there: Breakthrough comprises a national collaborative of affiliates, Teaching Fellows, students, staff, families, and communities working across lines of difference toward a shared belief: that young people thrive when they are challenged and deeply supported.
This is the moment to apply. Applications close 2/26/26. If you are a college student interested in applying or know one who would be interested, we invite you to apply at breakthroughcollaborative.org/apply.
Now is the time to expand educational opportunities so more young people can learn, lead, and thrive. Join Breakthrough in making that happen—building stronger futures and clear pathways to success.