TEACH Grant Program - Teaching Grants

TEACH Grant Program

The Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program 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. If, after reading all of the information
on this fact sheet, you are interested in learning more about the TEACH Grant Program, you should contact the financial aid office at the college where you will be enrolled.

Conditions
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. 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.

IMPORTANT: If you fail to complete this service obligation, all
amounts of TEACH Grants that you received will be converted
to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan. You must then repay this loan to the U.S. Department of Education (ED). You
will be charged interest from the date the grant was disbursed.
Student Eligibility Requirements

To receive a TEACH Grant you must meet the following criteria:
• Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSASM),
although you do not have to demonstrate financial need.
• Be a U.S. citizen or eligible noncitizen. • Be enrolled as an undergraduate, postbaccalaureate, or graduate student in a postsecondary institution that has chosen to participate in the TEACH Grant Program. • Be enrolled in course work that is necessary to begin a career in teaching or plan to complete such course work. Such course work 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.

High-Need Field
High-need fields are Bilingual Education and English Language Acquisition, Foreign Language, Mathematics, Reading Specialist, Science, Special Education, and other identified teacher shortage
areas as of the time you begin teaching in that field. Teacher subject shortage areas (not geographic areas) are listed in ED’s annual Teacher Shortage Area Nationwide Listing. To access the listing, visit 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 ED’s annual directory of designated low-income schools for teacher cancellation benefits.

TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve
Each year you receive a TEACH Grant, you must sign a TEACH
Grant Agreement to Serve that will be available on an ED Web site. The Agreement to Serve specifies the conditions under which
the grant will be awarded and the teaching service requirements. It also 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 Stafford Loan, with interest accrued from the date the grant funds were disbursed. The Agreement to Serve will require the following:
• For each TEACH-Grant-eligible program for which you 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. • Your teaching service must be in a high-need field. • You must comply with any other requirements that ED determines to be necessary. • If you do not complete the required teaching service
obligation, TEACH Grant funds you received will be
converted to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan
that you must repay, with interest charged from the date of each TEACH Grant disbursement.

Additional Guidance and Implementing Regulations
ED will publish regulations to implement the TEACH Grant
Program after providing an opportunity for public comment
in accordance with legal requirements.

IMPORTANT REMINDER
If you receive a TEACH Grant but do not complete the required teaching service, as explained above, you will be required to repay
the grants as a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, with
interest charged from the date of each TEACH Grant disbursement.

Next Steps
If you are interested in learning more about the TEACH Grant Program, you should contact the financial aid office at the college where you will be enrolled to find out whether it participates in the TEACH Grant Program.
Disclaimer
This fact sheet provides a preliminary summary of the TEACH Grant Program based on the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007. The information in this document is subject to change
and is not binding on the U.S. Department of Education.