Questions Abound On TEACH Grant Program

Questions Abound On TEACH Grant Program

The College Cost Reduction and Access Act (P.L. 110-84) established the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant program providing $4,000 a year to individuals who agree to teach under specified conditions. The grant funding may not exceed $16,000 for undergraduate or post-baccalaureate study, and $8,000 for graduate study. NASFAA recently provided a summary of the new program.

The TEACH Grant program begins with the 2008-09 award year and is targeted to academically qualified students who are willing to make a commitment to teach full-time for at least 4 academic years within 8 years of completing the program of study for which the TEACH grants were received. Recipients must teach at a school serving low-income students and must teach a high-need subject.

The teaching commitment must not be taken lightly. If the student fails to complete the teaching commitment:

The grant funds will be treated as Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan funds; and
Interest accrues as of the date of the original award.
From the wording in the law, it appears that there is no partial earning of the grant. That is, if the student does not complete the teaching commitment in its entirety, then all of the grant funds that the student received are treated as unsubsidized loan funds. Since undergraduate students can receive up to a total of $16,000 and graduate students can receive up to a total of $8,000, failure to complete the teaching commitment can be a significant loan burden.

NASFAA staff has analyzed the law and has submitted the following questions about the program to the Department of Education (ED). We will share answers as we receive them.

Will the application be different from the FAFSA?
Is the GPA requirement a cumulative GPA? When is it measured? If the student meets the test score criteria, is the GPA irrelevant (assuming that the student is making satisfactory academic progress)?

How will a student’s intent to complete coursework necessary for teaching be determined, and will any tracking of the student’s progress be required?

What does "retiree" mean?
Does a career switcher who already has an undergrad degree who is going back to school to get a graduate degree because the school doesn’t offer a post-baccalaureate program have to demonstrate current expertise in one of these fields, in addition to planning to teach in one of the fields listed in the law?

Can a student use a "high quality alternative certification route" and seek a graduate degree to become a teacher for the first time? The wording in the law states that the student has to already be a teacher.

Can the eligibility of remedial or noncredit courses be clarified?
Regarding the subject fields in which the student must teach, how does this work for elementary teachers who teach all subjects?
Must the student teach for all 4 years at the same school? The law states "school", not "schools".
Since the law specifies that the grant amount is $4,000 per academic year, will the Title IV academic year be used, as it is for the ACG/SMART program?

Can a recipient who receives grants for undergraduate study subsequently receive grants for graduate study as well? And if so, when does the 8-year period within which service must be completed begin? The wording of the law is "within 8 years after completing the course of study for which the applicant received a TEACH Grant" - are undergraduate and graduate separate programs of study?
If the recipient fails to complete the teaching obligation so that the grant becomes an unsubsidized loan, what happens to loan limits? If the recipient already had borrowed the maximum allowable loan limit how will ED assure that it doesn’t look like the borrower exceeded limits? This would especially be a problem if the recipient got grants as an undergraduate and subsequently wants to go to graduate school.

By Karen McCarthy
NASFAA Assistant Director for Professional Assessment, Training, and Regulatory Assistance

Posted 10/22/07 to www.NASFAA.org. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited. Please submit Web Site questions or comments to Web@NASFAA.org.