Teach Grant
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.
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 (see below for more information on high-need fields and schools serving 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. You will be charged interest from the date the grant(s) was disbursed.
Student Eligibility Requirements
To receive a TEACH Grant you must meet the following criteria:
Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), although you do not have to
demonstrate financial need.
- Be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen.
- Be enrolled as an undergraduate, post-baccalaureate, or graduate student in a postsecondary educational institution that has chosen to participate in the TEACH Grant Program.
- Be enrolled in coursework that is 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).
- Sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve (see below for more information on the TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve).
For more information, refer to the Teach Grant Fact Sheet (pdf)
TEACH GRANT ELIGIBLE PROGRAMS
Undergraduate Students
Bachelor of Science in Education
- Early Childhood with Early Childhood Special Education
- Early Childhood/Elementary with Early Childhood Special Education
- Early Childhood/Elementary with Cross-Categorical Disabilities
- Elementary Education with Cross-Categorical Disabilities
Bachelor of Science
- Middle Childhood Education – Mathematics or Science Concentration
- Secondary Education/Mathematics
- Secondary Education/Unified Science – Biology or Chemistry Concentration
Graduate Students
Master of Arts in Teaching with initial certification in the following areas:
- Cross-Categorical Disabilities Stand-Alone (K-12)
- Early Childhood with Early Childhood Special Education (Birth-Grade 3)
- Early Childhood (Birth-Grade 3)/Elementary (1-6) with Early Childhood Special Education (Birth-Grade 3)
- Early Childhood (Birth-Grade 3)/Elementary (1-6) with Cross-Categorical Disabilities (K-12)
- Elementary Education (1-6) with Cross-Categorical Disabilities (K-12)
- Middle School Mathematics (5-9)
- Middle School Science (5-9)
- Secondary Mathematics (9-12)
- Secondary Science (9-12)
- Biology
- Chemistry
- General Science
- Unified Science-Biology
- Unified Science-Chemistry
Master of Arts in Teaching with add-on certification in the following areas:
- Cross-Categorical Disabilities (K-12)
- Early Childhood Special Education (Birth-Grade 3)
- Special Reading (K-12)
Other possible teacher shortage areas are listed in the Department of Education’s Annual Teacher Shortage Area Nationwide Listing online at http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/pol/tsa.doc.
