LOUISVILLE, Ky.-- Kentucky classrooms need more teachers. There's been trouble finding enough people to teach children, as fewer get teaching degrees. That's one reason the University of Louisville's College of Education and Human Development is discounting the tuition for some of its graduate programs, by about 25%. They want to entice more people to get into classrooms.

• Certain education programs at the University of Louisville for Masters degrees will have tuition decreased by about 25%. 
  
• The Masters programs for elementary education, special education, and other areas of expertise, will be included in the discount, to attract more people to go into teaching. 
• UofL speaks to the teacher shortage in Kentucky, saying their enrollment at the College of Education and Human Development is down by 17%.

The College of Education and Human Development's Interim Dean Amy Lingo says enrollment is down by 17%; Lingo hopes the reduced tuition will cause students to pursue more degrees, specialize in the areas that especially need teachers across Kentucky school districts, and become teachers in the first place.

To see the new prices for these graduate programs and a full list of the programs getting the special rate, click here. 

Students like Allison Dunbar, a freshman pursuing a Bachelor's degree, hope to one day have the same discount. Dunbar wants to be a high school English teacher.

"This is what I've wanted to do since I was in fifth grade," says Dunbar.

She says her family members have tried to convince her against becoming a teacher, fearing low pay and less than competitive benefits in the midst of teacher pension dilemma. 

"She was getting me to do finance, marketing, she was just trying to get me to do anything but teaching because of everything that's going on," Dunbar explains. "I [education students] just need to go with what their heart is telling them to do. If this is what you've wanted to do, don't listen to someone that's trying to take you away from it." 

Lingo, a former teacher and professor herself, is disappointed in the trend of people turning away from the profession. She says the college is also strategizing over a way to keep students from changing majors and steering away from teaching and education.

"I don't think we as a society have done a good job of that, of just selling the message of how important teaching is as a career and how our society depends on good quality teachers," she says.