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 in a high need subject area.
In exchange for receiving a TEACH Grant, students/graduates 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, students/graduates must teach for at least four academic years within eight calendar years of completing the Program of Study for which they received a TEACH Grant.
The 2019 deadline for all TEACH Grant recipients to submit documentation of completed teaching service or to certify intent to satisfy the service obligation is October 31, 2019. This annual certification deadline is separate from the starting in 2019, in October, students (TEACH recipients) will be contacted by the Financial Aid Office to tell students how to submit documentation of progress towards completing the TEACH Grant Service Obligation, or the Certification of intent to satisfy the Service obligation. If this is not submitted, all TEACH Grants will be converted to Direct Unsubsidized loans.
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 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), and
- sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve (see below for more information on the TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve).
If an applicant meets these requirements, they must complete a TEACH Grant Application and submit it to the Office of Financial Aid.
Additional Information
The Department of Education's Annual Directory of Low-Income Schools for Teacher Cancellation Benefits includes both elementary and secondary schools.
Other Identified Teacher Shortage Areas (Doc)
High-need fields include:
- Bilingual Education and English Language Acquisition
- Foreign Language
- Mathematics
- Reading Specialist
- Science
- Special Education
See additional information or email the Office of Financial Aid.
TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve
If a student is eligible to receive the TEACH Grant, they must sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve that is available electronically on the Department of Education Website. 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 the student they understand that if they do not meet the teaching service requirements, they 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, they must serve as a full-time teacher for a total of at least four academic years within eight calendar years after they completed or withdrew from the academic Program of Study for which they received the TEACH Grant. The student 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.