Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program
A Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant is different from other federal student grants because it requires you agree to complete a teaching service obligation as a condition for receiving the grant, and if you don't complete the service obligation, the TEACH Grant will be converted to an Unsubsidized loan that you must repay, with interest.
To receive a TEACH Grant, you must sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve or Repay in which you agree to:
- Serve as a full-time highly-qualified teacher for four elementary or secondary school years at a school or educational service agency that serves low-income students;
- Teach in a high-need field; and
- Complete the required four years of teaching within eight years after you graduate from or otherwise cease to be enrolled at the institution of higher education where you received your TEACH Grants.
What Are High-Need Teaching Fields?
High-need fields are
- mathematics;
- science, including, but not limited to, computer science;
- foreign language;
- bilingual education;
- English language acquisition;
- reading specialist;
- special education; or
- any other field that has been identified as high-need in the annual Teacher Shortage Area Nationwide Listing (Nationwide List).
If you plan to teach in a high-need field that is included in the Nationwide List, that field must be listed for the state where you are teaching at the time you begin teaching in that field, even if that field is later removed from the Nationwide List; or at the time you signed your Agreement or received your TEACH Grant, even if that field is no longer designated as high-need when you begin teaching.
TEACH Grants Can Convert into Loans
If you do not meet the requirements of your service obligation, all TEACH Grants you received will be converted to Direct Unsubsidized Loans. You must repay these loans in full, with interest charged from the date of each TEACH Grant disbursement.
TEACH Grant Service Obligation
In exchange for receiving a TEACH Grant, you must agree to:
- Serve as a full-time highly-qualified teacher for four elementary or secondary school years at a school or educational service agency (ESA) that serves low-income students;
- Teach in a high-need field; and
- Complete the required four years of teaching within eight years after you graduate from or otherwise cease to be enrolled at the institution of higher education where you received your TEACH Grants.
- If you do not meet the requirements of your service obligation, all TEACH Grants you received will be converted to Direct Unsubsidized Loans. You must repay these loans in full, with interest charged from the date of each TEACH Grant disbursement.
How to Document Your Qualifying Teaching Service
After you have completed each one of your four years of required teaching, you must provide your TEACH Grant servicer with documentation of that teaching service.
A form for documenting your qualifying teaching service will be available from your TEACH Grant servicer, MOHELA, and in the Forms Library.
This form must be certified by the chief administrative officer (authorized official) of the school or educational service agency (ESA) where you taught and must confirm for each school year:
- You were a highly-qualified teacher,
- You taught in a low-income school or ESA,
- More than half of the classes that you taught during school year being certified were in a high-need field.
More information https://studentaid.gov/understand-aid/types/grants/teach#terms
TEACH Grant Application Process
- Complete the Free Application For Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
- Complete a TEACH Grant Request Form (PDF)
- Complete TEACH Grant Initial/Subsequent Counseling
- Sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve or Repay
The amount of TEACH grant funds you will receive will depend on your enrollment each semester. In order to qualify, new students will undergo a GPA review from previous schools attended and students are required to maintain a 3.25 GPA to continue to receive the grant. You will also need to complete the application steps listed above and you must be eligible for Federal Student Aid by providing all documents to the financial aid office that are necessary to complete your aid offer.
| Undergraduate Students | Graduate Students | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Semester Credits Enrolled | Grant Amount | Semester Credits Enrolled | Grant Amount |
| 1-5 | $472 | 1-4 | $472 |
| 6-8 | $943 | 5-6 | $943 |
| 9-11 | $1,415 | 7-8 | $1,415 |
| 12-over | $1,886 | 9-over | $1,886 |
These amounts are per semester and cannot exceed the Maximum academic (Fall, Spring, Summer) yearly amount of $3,772. You must enroll full-time in order to receive consideration for the full amount of the TEACH Grant award. At the undergraduate level, enrollment of 12 credit hours or more each semester is considered full-time. At the graduate level, enrollment of 9 credits or more each semester is considered full-time. All credit hours must be program requirements as indicated in your Degree Works portal.