Aid Programs
Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant ("TEACH" Grant)
The new Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant ("TEACH" Grant) program was created by the College Cost Reduction and Access Act. This new grant program will go into effect for the 2008-2009 academic year.
Student Eligibility Requirements
To receive a TEACH Grant a student must:
- Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
- Be a U.S. Citizen or eligible non-citizen.
- Be enrolled in coursework that is necessary to begin a career in teaching or plan to complete such coursework. Coursework that will prepare a student to teach in a high-need subject area (e.g., math courses for a student who intends to be a math teacher) is acceptable.
- Meet the following academic achievement requirements
- Score above the 75th percentile on one battery of a nationally-normed college admissions test such as the SAT, ACT, GRE, etc, Or
- If a first semester, first time in college freshman - graduate from High School, with a Cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 on a 4.0 scale AND maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 throughout your academic program for which you receive a TEACH Grant
- If a first semester graduate student - have an undergraduate Cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 on a 4.0 scale AND maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 throughout your academic program for which you receive a TEACH Grant
- If a first semester transfer student - have a transfer Cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 on a 4.0 scale AND maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 throughout your academic program for which you receive a TEACH Grant Or
- Be a TEACH grant recipient who is currently a teacher or retiree who is applying for a TEACH Grant to obtain a master's degree in a TEACH Grant-eligible program
- Complete the TEACH Grant entrance and subsequent counseling
- Sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve (ATS) each year with the U.S. Department of Education available electronically at www.teach-ats.ed.gov.
General Program Requirements
- The grant must be repaid as Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan if student does not fulfill ALL of the requirements of the program. Interest will accrue from date of original disbursement.
- A student can receive up to $4,000 per year for an undergraduate degree ($16,000 aggregate for a 4 year program). A graduate student can receive $4,000 per year ($8,000 aggregate total)
- Students in certificate programs are eligible. Undergraduate aggregate amounts apply.
- Grant is prorated for less than half-time enrollment (3000 for 3/4 time; 2000 for 1/2 time; 1000 for less than half-time)
TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve
Each year to receive a TEACH Grant, the student must sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve and Promise to Pay (service agreement) that will be available electronically on a Department of Education Web site. The TEACH Grant service agreement specifies the conditions under which the grant will be awarded, the teaching service requirements, and includes an acknowledgment by the student that they understand that if the teaching service requirements are not met they must repay the grant as a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan, with interest accrued from the date the grant funds were first disbursed.
Teaching Obligation
To avoid repaying the TEACH Grant as a loan with interest recipients must be a highly-qualified, full-time teacher in a high-need subject area for at least four years within eight years of finishing the program and must teach at a school serving low-income students. Specific definitions of terms are included below.
Highly-Qualified Teacher
The term highly-qualified teacher is defined in section 9101(23) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 or in section 602(10) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act - online at: http://www.ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/GEN0414.html.
Full-Time Teacher
Must meet the state's definition of a full-time teacher and spend the majority (at least 51 percent) of time teaching one of the high-need subject areas. In order for teaching to count towards meeting the service obligation, the recipient must teach in a designated "high need" field AND at a designated school. These designations can change over time. Elementary school teachers who teach many subjects would not be able to fulfill their service agreement.
High-Need Subject Areas
- Bilingual Education and English Language Acquisition
- Foreign Language
- Mathematics
- Reading Specialist
- Science
- Special Education
- Other teacher shortage areas identified at the time you begin teaching. These are subject areas (not geographic areas) that are listed in the Department of Education's Annual Teacher Shortage Area Nationwide Listing at http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/pol/tsa.doc.
Schools Serving Low-Income Students
Schools serving low-income students include any elementary or secondary school that is listed in the Department of Education's Annual Directory of Designated Low-Income Schools for Teacher Cancellation Benefits at https://www.tcli.ed.gov/CBSWebApp/tcli/TCLIPubSchoolSearch.jsp.
Documentation
For each TEACH-eligible program for which TEACH Grant funds are received, recipients must provide documentation to the Department of Education that the teaching obligation was completed. TEACH Grant recipients must also confirm to the Federal Department of Education in writing within 120 days of completing or otherwise ceasing enrollment in the TEACH-eligible program that they are fulfilling (or planning to fulfill) the terms and conditions of the service agreement.
The elementary or secondary school's chief administrative officer must certify documentation of the teaching service. This documentation must show that you were a full-time, highly-qualified teacher at a school serving low-income students, teaching a high-need subject area for at least four years.
IMPORTANT REMINDERS:
- FAILURE TO COMPLETE THE TEACHING OBLIGATION OR PROPERLY DOCUMENT TEACHING SERVICE WILL CAUSE THE TEACH GRANT TO BE PERMANENTLY CONVERTED TO AN UNSUBSIDIZED FEDERAL DIRECT STAFFORD LOAN WITH INTEREST. Interest would accrue from the date of the original disbursement.
- ONCE A GRANT IS CONVERTED TO A LOAN IT CAN'T BE CONVERTED BACK TO GRANT!
- Students must seriously consider the financial impact that converting these grants into loans will have on their future.