If you want to be a teacher, and you care about making our education system better by becoming an excellent teacher, then a TEACH Grant may be a way to help you pay for the education that will get you into the classroom. TEACH grants are government funds that can pay up to $4,000 per year towards your undergraduate or graduate education. After graduation, you will be required to teach in a high-needs subject area and in a low-income or title one school. If you are a current teacher and would like to obtain your master’s degree and already teach in a low-income or title one school in a high-needs subject area, this could be a wonderful benefit for you. But you need to know the facts about these grants to find out how to qualify and if this will be the right way to help you fund your education.
What is the TEACH Grant?
A Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant is unique. Most grants do not require any form of repayment, monetary or otherwise. TEACH grants, however, require participants to complete a “teaching service obligation” once they finish their degree program that the TEACH grant helped to finance. If life changes after you earn your degree and you cannot fulfill your service obligation, the grant funds will automatically convert to an unsubsidized Federal loan with interest applied.
The TEACH grant program is a great way to help aspiring teachers to pay for their education, while also beefing up the ranks of qualified educators who will help lower income students to realize their full potential. The TEACH grant requirements include that a recipient be enrolled at one of the TEACH grant eligible schools and that they then perform the service obligation for four years at a school on the low-income schools list. In addition, students must maintain certain academic standards in their degree program and then teach in one of the TEACH grant high need fields of study. Read on to find out all the important details you need to know so your plan of study and career will meet these grant qualifications.
How Much is the TEACH Grant?
With a TEACH grant you could receive up to $4,000 a year to complete your undergraduate or graduate studies if you want to become a teacher after you finish school and if you serve in an underserved subject area.
For example, if you are seeking an undergraduate program that participates in the TEACH grant, you could receive up to $16,000 ($4,000 per each year of study). Then, if you were to migrate to a master’s program that participates in the TEACH grant program, you could earn up to an additional $8,000. In this scenario, you could be awarded up to $24,000 total.
2-year graduate program – up to $8,000
4-year undergraduate program – up to $16,000
As you can see, TEACH grant award amounts vary by how much schooling you are investing in, and you are not guaranteed to get the maximum amount each year. But if you follow all of the rules of the program, this can be a substantial boost to help you finance the education to make your teaching career more accessible.
TEACH Grant Requirements
There are three main requirements to be awarded a TEACH grant:
- That you study in a degree program at one of the grant program eligible schools;
- That you complete your program;
- That you then teach one of the specific high-needs subjects at a school that serves low-income students.
As with any other form of financial aid, the FAFSA TEACH grant application is also part of the process.
What Job Must I Do for A TEACH Grant?
After you graduate from your degree program, you need to serve as a highly-qualified teacher in a public or private school that serves low-income students. You must complete four years of this teaching within the eight years after you graduate. Additionally, the subject you teach must be one of the fields identified as high-needs by the education department. These fields may change over time, but whatever were identified as high-needs subjects at the time you first received your federal TEACH grant will still qualify you.
Who Qualifies for the TEACH Grant?
TEACH grant eligibility is similar to the guidelines for receiving financial aid, but there are some provisions that are more specific. To qualify, you must:
- Be enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate student at a school that participates in the TEACH Grant Program.
- Meet certain academic achievement requirements (generally, scoring above the 75th percentile on at least one (sometimes more) sections of a college admissions test OR a 3.25 or higher cumulative GPA).
- Participate in TEACH Grant counseling that focuses on ensuring you understand the that the terms and conditions of the teaching service commitment you are agreeing to upon graduation. Every year that you receive a TEACH Grant, you have to complete the counseling.
- Sign the TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve or Repay.
- Are eligible for federal student aid programs. To qualify you must:
- be a U.S. citizen or an eligible noncitizen;
- have a valid Social Security number (with some exceptions)
- be actively enrolled or have been accepted into an accredited college or university degree program;
- be enrolled at least half-time (this is required to be eligible for Direct Loan Program funds);
- have guaranteed that you do not currently owe money or are in default on a federal student loan and that you will only use the grant funds for your education.
TEACH Grant High Need Fields
It makes sense to apply for a TEACH grant if you are considering teaching in any of these federally identified high-need subject areas:
- Mathematics
- Reading support specialist
- Sciences
- Computer science
- English language acquisition
- Special & gifted education
- Foreign languages
- Bilingual education services
This list is updated annually by the U.S. Department of Education. In addition to to the Federal high-need areas, states also define their own high-needs areas, which may include other subjects.
TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve or Repay
The agreement that you sign as part of the TEACH grant requirements has been recently renamed to include the phrase “or Repay” in the title. This better helps you understand that if you do not fulfill the service part of the agreement, the money will convert to a loan that you will be expected to repay.
This is important because if you do change your mind, or you end up taking a job in a school that does not serve low-income students, this will become student debt that will affect your finances. Signing this agreement signals that you fully understand and that you intend to provide this teaching to fulfill your obligation as part of receiving the grant.
The service requirement has multiple parts:
- Willing to teach full-time for 4 out of the 8 years after graduating school as a highly qualified teacher. (Highly qualified teacher means you have a bachelor’s degree, you are certified to teach by your state, and that you are teaching in a high needs school or educational agency and in a high needs field. The high needs field could change from year to year.)
- Not all degree programs are considered “qualifying programs”. TEACH grant programs and qualification requirements are identified by the school you choose to attend.
- If for some reason things change, and you do not want to be a teacher any more or do not want to fulfill the service requirement, the monies provided for TEACH grant automatically converts to an unsubsidized Title IV loan. Interest calculations go back to the date of the initial disbursement of grant funds.
- If you for any reason do not complete your degree program, or do not maintain the academic standards needed to qualify, your grant would convert to a loan.
- There are provisions for temporary suspension of the eight year time limit that a recipient can apply for, with the acceptable reasons including: being enrolled in a TEACH program or state program needed to qualify for licensure, you are fulfilling licensure requirements for your state, you or your spouse is called up for National Guard or military duty, you live or work in an area declared a federal disaster area, you have or are caring for someone who has a serious health condition, or you qualify for family leave for birth or adoption.
TEACH Grant Eligible Schools & Programs
This grant program has a dynamic and ever-changing set of schools and programs that participate. As you review school and degree options, check with the programs you are considering to find out if they are qualifying programs.
Whether you are just starting your bachelor’s degree or would like to continue your undergraduate education in teaching, you can find programs that will allow you to become part of the TEACH program. If you already have an undergraduate degree, you will want to look at master’s degree programs in education that have been designated by their institutions as TEACH program eligible.
Any program of study that you take as part of the TEACH program will be designed to give you the training to become a highly qualified teacher in a subject area that has been included in the high-needs fields list. When you get ready to teach, or if you want to research your options for when you are submitting your TEACH grant application, you can consult this TEACH grant low-income serving schools list.
There is no consolidated TEACH grant eligible institutions list, but we will continue to feature participating schools on our site. To qualify for the grant, you need to attend one of the TEACH grant schools, and at that school, you need to be enrolled in one of the school’s TEACH grant eligible programs. The types of programs that can qualify include:
Qualifying schools can choose which of their programs to designate as TEACH grant programs, so each college or university may have a different set of programs that you may take to qualify for the grant. Similar programs at two different educational institutions may not both be designated as grant-eligible programs.
Eligible Online Programs at William Carey University
The education department of William Carey University bolsters students with different motivations for becoming teacher to succeed in this very needed profession. The comprehensive education programs value excellence, and provide training that is informed by theory, socially responsible, and research based. Graduates of this program are future teachers who will be caring and reflective professionals who can contribute meaningfully to education in our complex society. The department provides an environment infused with Christian values, and actively engages in building qualified teachers. For people called to education, no matter what your background is, the programs at William Carey can provide a pathway to teaching one of the high needs subject areas that will improve the lives of students in your future classroom.
At William Carey University, the programs that are eligible for the TEACH grant program are all specialized Master of Education programs.
- Master of Education (M.Ed.) - Emotional and Behavioral Disorders
- Master of Education (M.Ed.) - Mathematics
- Master of Education (M.Ed.) - Elementary Education
- Master of Education (M.Ed.) - English
- Master of Education (M.Ed.) - Gifted Education
- Master of Education (M.Ed.) - History
- Master of Education (M.Ed.) - Interscholastic Athletic Administration
- Master of Education (M.Ed.) - Mild to Moderate Disabilities
- Master of Education (M.Ed.) - Secondary Education
- Master of Education (M.Ed.) - Teaching & Learning Globally
- Master of Education (M.Ed.) - Educational Leadership
Each of these programs requires core courses including Teacher as Researcher, Historical & Philosophical Foundations of Education, and Curricula Planning, although Teaching & Learning Globally has a slightly different core sequence, and Interscholastic Athletic Administration follows its own complete curriculum. Then students will follow the coursework for their desired specialization, which can vary based on the needs of the special population or subject for the degree. With programs designed to help relieve the teacher shortages in these in-demand subjects, William Carey is a great institution to attend to both prepare you to become an integral part of the improvement of education, and to participate in the TEACH grant program.
TEACH Grant Application Process
If you need to know how to apply for the TEACH grant, you can consult with the program you are enrolling in for more information, but the process is not difficult, if just a little bit involved.
- Select a program of study that participates in the TEACH grant. The college or university you are working with will be able to tell you if your program of study is eligible for the program.
- Apply for grant program funding by completing your current year FAFSA, which will automatically put you in the running for a TEACH grant award, if qualified.
- If awarded, the Office of Financial Aid at your chosen school will put together an award package that includes TEACH grant funds.
- Earn your degree by completing all requirements of your program of study.
- To received funding under the grant, you are required to sign an Agreement to Serve that commits you to: serve as a full-time teacher at the K-12 level, teach in a high-need field, teach at a school designated by the U.S. Dept. of Education as being qualified for grant service agreements, and complete 4 years of teaching in a PK-12 high needs school and do this within the first 8 years from the date of your graduation.
Is the TEACH Grant Available Internationally?
This grant program is open only to US citizens and has very limited exceptions, following the eligibility requirement for federal student loan programs. International students may be eligible with certain refugee or residency status. Check with the financial aid office at your school to find out your eligibility.
TEACH Grant Contact Information
If you have grant questions, the first place to go is the financial aid office of the school that offers your TEACH grant eligible program. For further questions, you can reach the FedLoan TEACH Grant Servicing, at 1-800-699-2908 from 8 a.m.–9 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday.
Most of your questions can be answered by the financial aid contact at your chosen school. There is no specific TEACH grant phone number, however you can call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243; TTY for the deaf or hard of hearing 1-800-730-8913).
What Happens After You’re Awarded the Grant?
If you meet the application requirements and are awarded funds, congratulations! Almost 27,000 students were awarded teach grants between 2019-2020.
How Long Does it Take to Receive the TEACH Grant?
To get more information about grant disbursement, you’ll need to contact the financial aid office at your school. The disbursement of the grant amounts can be accessed with assistance from your school’s financial aid professionals.
Will I Have to do TEACH Grant Counseling?
Because these grants have special conditions attached to them, it is required that recipients get specific grant counseling at different points in the process. This is important because it will help you fully understand how the program works and what conditions would cause your grant to convert to a loan that you must pay back.
Before you receive your first grant disbursement, you have to complete the TEACH grant entrance counseling. Then, before you receive each successive year of grant funding, you will complete another counseling session.
Before you finish your schooling in the program where you got your grant, you need to complete the TEACH grant exit counseling.
If, for any reason, your grant is converted to a loan, you should attend the grant conversion counseling to help you understand the terms of the loan, but this is not a requirement.
TEACH Grant Renewal
Check with your financial aid office for the requirements to renew your grant for a subsequent year.
TEACH Grant Certification Form
There is a grant certification form you will need to fill out to prove your teaching obligation has been met. You can find the TEACH grant certification form pdf here. If you have questions about this process, you can contact the your school’s financial aid office or, FedLoan Servicing, at 1-800-699-2908.
When to Ask for a TEACH Grant Reconsideration
If your TEACH grant eligibility changes for any reason, or if you can’t fulfill your agreement to serve, then your grant will automatically convert to a loan.
If your grant converts, you can request a TEACH grant reconsideration if you can prove that you were satisfying your service obligation or that your grant was converted in error. If your application is successful, then you will have to conform to all the terms of the grant and to complete your service commitment.
Apply Today!
You have very little to lose and a lot to gain when you apply for the TEACH grant. If you feel inspired to be a part of the solution to the problems plaguing our education system, and to help out individuals who can benefit greatly from good education, then this grant award can help you to afford the training that will get you there. Fulfilling your service obligation to teach in underserved schools is a great way for you to give back while making your training that much more affordable. The program is win-win for you as an educator and for the students who you can help.