Southern Arkansas University and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock will share a $3.6 million grant that will be distributed over the next three years. The grant was announced by Forward Arkansas as part of its Educator Preparation Program (EPP) Design Collaborative. The grants are in the second phase in Forward Arkansas' plans to provide more training to prepare new educators. Cumulative funding of $3.6 million over the next three years includes direct funding to SAU and UALR. With comprehensive ongoing technical assistance from expert partners, the universities' goals are to increase the quantity, quality and diversity of Arkansas's teacher workforce.