TEACH Grant Program

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The new Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program provides up to $4,000 per year in grants for graduate and undergraduate students who intend to teach full-time in high-need subject areas for at least four years at schools that serve students from low-income families. Students may receive up to $16,000 for undergraduate study and up to $8,000 for graduate study. Part-time students are eligible, but the maximum grant will be reduced. The grant is also available for post-baccalaureate teacher certification coursework.

IF YOU FAIL TO COMPLETE THE FOUR-YEAR TEACHING OBLIGATION YOU WILL HAVE TO REPAY THE GRANT WITH INTEREST!!!

TEACH Grant Application
Initial Counseling Guide
Initial/Subsequent Counseling
Exit Counseling Guide
Exit Counseling

To receive a TEACH Grant you must:

  • Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) although you do not have to demonstrate financial need.
  • Be a U.S. Citizen or eligible non-citizen.
  • Be enrolled in a program of study designated as eligible. Eligible programs are those that prepare a student to teach in a high-need area. For example, a bachelor’s program with a math major could qualify for a student who intends to be a math teacher.
  • Meet one of the following academic achievement requirements:
    • Score above the 75th percentile on a college admissions test (e.g. SAT, ACT, GRE, or other comparable tests accepted by the school), or
    • Graduate from high school with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 (on a 4.0 scale) to receive a grant as a first-year student, or
    • Have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 (on a 4.0 scale) on your college coursework to receive a grant for each subsequent term.
  • Complete TEACH Grant counseling.
  • Sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve and respond to requests by the U.S. Department of Education confirming your continuing intention to meet the teaching obligation.

Each year you receive a TEACH Grant, you must sign an Agreement to Serve and Promise to Pay (service agreement) that will be available electronically on a Department of Education website. The TEACH Grant service agreement specifies the conditions under which the grant will be awarded, explains the teaching service requirements, and includes an acknowledgment by you that you understand that if you do not meet the teaching service requirements you must repay the grant as a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan with interest accrued from the date the grant funds were first disbursed.

To avoid repaying the TEACH Grant with interest, you must be a highly-qualified, full-time teacher in a high-need subject area for at least four years at a school serving low-income students. You must complete the four years of teaching within eight years of finishing the program for which you received the grant. You incur a four-year teaching obligation for each educational program for which you received funds, although you may work off multiple four-year obligations simultaneously under certain circumstances. Specific definitions of these terms are included below.

You must perform the teaching service as a highly-qualified teacher, which is defined in federal law. The informational sheet can also be found online.

You must meet the state’s definition of a full-time teacher and spend the majority (at least 51 percent) of your time teaching one of the high-need subject areas. Elementary teachers who teach many subjects would not be able to fulfill their service agreement.

  • Bilingual Education and English Language Acquisition
  • Foreign Language
  • Mathematics
  • Reading Specialist
  • Science
  • Special Education
  • Other teacher shortage areas listed in the Department of Education’s Annual Teacher Shortage Area Nationwide Listing here.

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 can be viewed here.

You must respond promptly to any requests for information or documentation from the U.S. Department of Education, even if they seem repetitive. These requests will be sent to you while you are still in school as well as once you are out of school. You will be asked regularly to confirm that you either still intend to teach or that you are teaching as required. You must provide documentation to the U.S. Department of Education at the end of each year of teaching.

If you temporarily cease enrollment in your program of study or if you encounter situations that affect your ability to begin or continue teaching, you will need to stay in touch with the U.S. Department of Education to avoid your grants being converted to loans before you are able to complete your teaching obligation.

IMPORTANT REMINDER
Failure to complete the teaching obligation, respond to requests for information, or properly document your teaching service will cause the TEACH Grant to be permanently converted to a loan with interest.

Once a grant is converted to a loan it can’t be converted back to a grant!