What is the TEACH Grant Program ?
In exchange for meeting a four-year service requirement, teachers can get financial assistance from the federal government through the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant to cover their eligible higher education fees. The Department of Education administers the federal financial aid program known as the TEACH Grant.
Students who want to become teachers can get funds from the TEACH Grant Program to help with the cost of their post-secondary education. Students who meet the requirements and are enrolled in a program of study that has been approved by their school as being eligible for a TEACH Grant are eligible to apply for one.
In exchange for fulfilling a four-year service obligation, the TEACH Grant gives teachers up to $4,000 per year to pay for their post-secondary education. Graduate students may receive up to $8,000 over two years, while undergraduate and post-baccalaureate students may get up to $16,000 over four years.
You must be enrolled full-time in a qualifying program at a partnering school in order to receive the full amount. The maximum TEACH Grant amount you can earn each year will be reduced if you're enrolled less than full-time. The precise amount of TEACH Grant money you are eligible to receive each year will be disclosed to you by your institution.
Federal TEACH Grant recipients are required to commit to working as highly competent teachers full-time for at least four years in a low-income elementary or secondary school in a profession with a high demand. Within eight years of finishing the program for which the TEACH Grant was given, students must fulfill the teaching requirements.
You must complete TEACH Grant Initial and Subsequent Counseling and sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve or Repay before you can receive a TEACH Grant.
Key Facts of TEACH Grant
- The TEACH Grant is a type of federal student aid that assists aspiring teachers in covering the cost of college or graduate school.
- The recipient of a TEACH Grant must complete service requirements or reimburse the grant money with interest.
- You must devote four years of your full time to teaching one or more high-need subjects at a low-income school in order to fulfill your duty.
How Does the TEACH Grant Work ?
The TEACH Grant was created to assist aspiring teachers in covering the costs of their post-secondary education while also filling positions that are desperately needed in low-income schools. In essence, you accept the grant while still a student and commit to repay it or work as a full-time teacher for four years within eight years of finishing school or leaving the institution where you earned your TEACH Grants.
You will be sent a disclosure that details the grant's amount and timing when you sign the contract to either work as a teacher or repay it. Your TEACH Grant will be applied by your school by crediting your account, directly paying you, or a combination of the two.
You must complete TEACH Grant departure counselling when you graduate, cease pursuing a degree, or quit attending college or graduate school. You will discuss your alternatives for temporarily suspending your duty, how to accomplish your service requirement, and what will happen if you don't fulfill it in departure counselling.
If any of the following conditions are met, this grant will change to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan with interest accumulated and capitalized as of the initial payment date:
- After finishing the course of study for which the TEACH Grant was awarded, a student who got it does not fulfill the four years of required teaching experience within eight years.
- fails to comply with all other TEACH Grant standards.
If You Don't Comply with the TEACH Service Requirement :
Your TEACH Grant will become a straight unsubsidized loan if you don't fulfill your service requirements. You'll have to repay the loan, including interest charged beginning the date that the grant was paid to you. If your grant is converted to a loan, it cannot be changed back to a grant unless you have completed your service requirement or the grant was mistakenly converted.
Who is Eligible for TEACH Grant ?
You must fulfill the criteria for federal student funding in order to be qualified for a TEACH grant. After graduating, you'll also need to work in a qualifying setting.
TEACH Grant Eligibility Requirements
To be eligible to take part in the federal TEACH grant program, there are several requirements. The following criteria must be met in order to qualify for an award:
- Satisfy the basic requirements for federal financial aid.
- Every year, fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
- As a graduate, post-baccalaureate, or undergraduate student, attend a TEACH grant participating school.
- Enroll at your participating institution in a program that qualifies.
- Maintain at least a 3.25 GPA academic performance or a 75th percentile or higher score on certain college admissions tests.
- Complete the TEACH grant counselling for each award year that qualifies.
- Sign the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) grant agreement.
Federal Student Aid Requirements
You must satisfy the fundamental eligibility conditions for federal student aid in order to be eligible for the TEACH Grant, which include:
- Show that you need money.
- Be U.S. citizen (or an eligible noncitizen).
- Have a Social Security number.
- Maintain the satisfactory academic progress set by your school.
- You must be enrolled at least half-time.
- Show you are qualified for attending college or graduate school.
- Sign the certification statement of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
Teaching Service Requirements
You must spend four years working as an elementary or secondary school teacher in order to fulfill the grant's requirements. You must additionally:
1) Work at a low-income institution :
The Teacher Cancellation Low-Income Directory (TCLI Directory) contains a list of eligible primary, secondary, and education service organisations.
2) Teach in a field with a high need :
According to the Teacher Shortage Area Nationwide Listing, which is updated annually, more than half of your classes must be in a high-need subject.
3) Be highly qualified teacher :
To be deemed "highly qualified," teachers must fulfill a number of requirements, which change depending on whether they teach at a public or private school.
4) Within eight years of graduation, finish your service :
The four years of service must typically be completed within eight years of graduation.
TEACH Grant Service Obligations Suspension
Although you typically have 8 years from graduation to finish your career as a teacher, there are specific circumstances in which you may be granted an extension. Your responsibility might be suspended, albeit it will depend on your unique situation, if you :
- Are enrolled in a program that qualifies for a TEACH Grant.
- Attempting to obtain certification to teach in an elementary or secondary school.
- Have a medical condition that qualifies for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
- Have been called to active duty with the federal or state government.
- Having a spouse who has deployed on military duty.
- You reside or work in a major disaster area that the government has declared.
Service Agreement for TEACH Grant
Additionally, you must teach a subject with a high need in the program. You may be able to obtain a TEACH Grant in a variety of subject areas. The following are a few examples of high-need subjects :
- English language acquisition
- Bilingual education
- Reading specialist
- Foreign language
- Mathematics
- Science and computer science
- Special education
If you obtained grant money while an undergraduate student and later got a TEACH grant while a graduate student, a separate four-year service commitment is necessary. You might be required to complete two four-year service requirements in this circumstance.
However, if you decide to start graduate school right away after getting your undergraduate degree and before starting your teaching duty, you can ask for a short service suspension. In this case, you might be able to fulfill both of your service requirements by working as a teacher.
How Much is the TEACH Grant ?
You can earn a TEACH Grant of up to $4,000 per year, up to a maximum of $16,000 for undergraduate or post-baccalaureate studies, and $8,000 for graduate study if you're enrolled full-time.
Academic Year Limit :
|
Maximum annual
amount*: |
$4,000 |
Aggregate Limit :
|
Eligible
undergraduate: |
$16,000 |
|
Eligible
post-baccalaureate credential: |
$16,000 |
|
Eligible graduate
student (master's): |
$8,000 |
How to Apply for the TEACH Grant ?
Submitting your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the first step in applying for a federal TEACH grant. Every year on October 1, the FAFSA becomes available. Since some financial aid is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, it pays to fill it out as early as possible. Your aid package will specify whether the TEACH Grant is offered at the school of your choosing and the amount you can receive.
If you're still debating which college to attend, check with the financial aid offices of each institution to see if they participate in the TEACH grant program. If you are currently enrolled in a participating school and meet the requirements for a TEACH grant award, your school will let you know.
You must submit the FAFSA each year in order to apply for a TEACH Grant. To find out more information about the specifics of the service requirement, you must go through initial and follow-up counselling for the TEACH Grant. For each TEACH Grant you receive, you must also sign the TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve or Repay. You must complete the TEACH Grant exit counselling when you graduate or leave school.
What is TEACH Grant Initial and Subsequent Counseling ?
The terms and conditions of the TEACH Grant service obligation, the conditions under which a TEACH Grant will be converted to a Direct Unsubsidized Loan, and your responsibility for repayment if your TEACH Grant is converted to a loan are all covered in the TEACH Grant Initial and Subsequent Counseling.
You are required to complete counseling before receiving your first Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant (Initial Counseling) and also before receiving a new TEACH Grant for each subsequent year of your program of study (Subsequent Counseling).
As directed by the institution where you receive your TEACH Grant, you must complete Initial and Subsequent counselling online at the U.S. Department of Education's StudentAid.gov website. Both Initial Counseling and Subsequent Counseling can be completed in a single counselling session. The material you'll learn during TEACH Grant Initial and Subsequent Counseling is summarized in this counselling guide.
TEACH Grant Deadlines
TEACH Grant Application Dates :
- Fall 2022 Open Date - 18 October, 2021, Deadline - May 27, 2022
- Spring 2023 Open Date - 30 May, 2022, Deadline - October 14, 2022
- Summer 2023 Open Date - 17 October, 2022, Deadline - March 10, 2023
Term Dates :
- Summer 2022, May 2-August 5, 2022 (Census May 17, 2022)
- Fall 2022, August 22-December 2, 2022 (Census September 6, 2022)
- Spring 2023, January 3-April 14, 2023 (Census January 18, 2023)
TEACH Grant Alternatives
Other initiatives exist to assist teachers with the expenditures of their higher education.
1) Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program :
If you work for an eligible employer, which includes the government and some not-for-profit organizations, and make 120 qualifying payments, the PSLF Program will forgive federal direct loans on your behalf.
2) Pell Grants :
The Pell Grant is not restricted to current or future teachers. Undergraduate students who haven't graduated but have a need for financial assistance are eligible for free aid through Pell Grants.
3) Teacher Loan Forgiveness :
The Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program may be able to forgive up to $17,500 of your student debt. This program allows for the forgiveness of both subsidized and unsubsidized direct or FFEL loans. You must have held a full-time teaching position for five complete, consecutive years at a low-income elementary school, secondary school, or educational service organisation in order to be eligible.
4) Federal Perkins Loans Teacher Cancellation :
After five years of full-time teaching, you might be able to have your Federal Perkins loans totally forgiven. You must work in a low-income setting or teach a subject where there is a dearth of trained instructors in order to qualify. If the private school is a non-profit, the teachers can be eligible.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How many years do I have to complete TEACH Grant service obligation?
You typically need to finish the requisite four years of teaching within eight years of graduating from or leaving the school where you obtained your TEACH Grant in order to avoid having to repay your grant.
What fields are considered high needs for TEACH Grant?
The Department of Education's Teacher Shortage Area Nationwide Listing, which is updated yearly, lists high-need fields. Math, science, foreign languages, bilingualism, special education, and learning English are all on the list.
Does the TEACH Grant require repay?
As long as you fulfill the program's service obligation, you are not required to pay back the TEACH Grant. In the event that you fail to do so, your grant will be changed into a direct unsubsidized loan, which you'll have to repay with interest.
Who could qualify for TEACH Grants?
The awards are open to aspiring educators who are committed to serving in low-income, high-need fields of study. Like with many other federal grants, applicants must be citizens of the United States or be qualified non-citizens. They must also be enrolled as undergraduate, post-baccalaureate, or graduate students in a post-secondary educational institution that has decided to take part in the Federal TEACH Grant Program.