TEACH Grant
The TEACH Grant (or Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant) is a federally funded program to assist students who plan to teach in a high-need area and are willing to teach in a low-income school.
To accept the TEACH Grant, visit the TEACH Grant website to complete the agreement to serve and entrance counseling.
Student Eligibility Requirements
To receive a TEACH Grant you must meet the following criteria:
- Complete the FAFSA, although you do not have to demonstrate financial need.
- Be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen.
- Be enrolled in a postsecondary educational 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.
- 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 TEACH Grant website for more information).
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.
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 receive the grant or 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.
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. To access the directory, visit studentaid.gov/tcli.
