TEACH Grant Program
Through the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007, Congress created the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program that provides grants of up to $4,000 per year to students who intend to teach in a public or private elementary or secondary school that serves students from low-income families. The first TEACH Grants will be awarded to eligible students for the 2008-2009 school year.
In exchange for receiving a TEACH Grant, you must agree to serve as a full-time teacher in a high-need field in a public or private elementary or secondary school that serves low-income students (see below for more information on high-need fields and schools serving low-income students). As a recipient of a TEACH Grant, you must teach for at least four academic years within eight calendar years of completing the program of study for which you received a TEACH Grant.
Eligibility Requirements:
- Must complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA),
- Be a U.S. Citizen or eligible non-citizen,
- Be enrolled as an undergraduate, post-baccalaureate, or graduate student in a post secondary educational institution,
- Be enrolled in coursework that is necessary to begin a career in teaching or plan to complete such coursework. Such coursework may include subject area courses (e.g., math courses for a student who intends to be a math teacher),
- Meet certain academic achievement requirements (generally, scoring above the 75th percentile on a college admissions test or maintaining a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25),
- Sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve (see below for more information on the TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve).
- Complete in-office TEACH Grant Counseling with a Student Financial Services counselor.
Additional Information:
Listing of elementary and secondary schools:
-
Department of Education's Annual Directory of Low-Income Schools for Teacher Cancellation Benefits
- Nationwide Listing of Teacher Shortage Areas 1990-2008
High-need fields include:
Bilingual Education and English Language Acquisition
Foreign Language
Mathematics
Reading Specialist
Science
Special Education
Other identified teacher shortage areas as of the time you begin teaching in that field. These are some of the teacher subject shortage areas (not geographic areas) that are listed in the Department of Education’s Annual Teacher Shortage Area Nationwide Listing.
- 'What you need to know before you get a TEACH Grant' information packet from the Department of Education
- Federal Student Aid Fact Sheet
TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve
If you are eligible to receive the TEACH Grant, you must sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve that will be available electronically on the Department of Education Web site. The TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve specifies the conditions under which the grant will be awarded, 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 disbursed.
For each TEACH Grant-eligible program for which the student received TEACH Grant funds,you must serve as a full-time teacher for a total of at least four academic years within eight calendar years after you completed or withdrew from the academic program for which you received the TEACH Grant. You must perform the teaching service as a highly-qualified teacher at a low-income school. 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.
**IMPORTANT NOTE ** If the recipient DOES NOT complete ALL requirements of the Agreement, the grant will be converted to an unsubsidized Federal Stafford loan with interest accruing from original date of the grant. Once a grant has been converted to a loan, it CANNOT be changed back to a grant.
