TEACH GRANT

What is the TEACH Grant?

The Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant (or TEACH Grant), was instituted on July 1, 2008 by the Department of Education (DOE), in conjunction with the College Cost Reduction and Access Act. The TEACH Grant is designed to encourage highly qualified teachers to serve low income schools in high-need subject areas. 

Please note that there are several requirements which are necessary to qualify for the Grant, as well as a number of requirements which must be fulfilled in order to keep the Grant.  Students who do not meet the requirements to keep the Grant will have those funds converted to an unsubsidized loan with interest added to the loan based on the date the Grant originally credited to the student’s account.

How much money is available for qualified TEACH Grant applicants?

Undergraduate students may receive UP TO $4,000 per year for full–time enrollment. The maximum total TEACH Grant funding an eligible student can receive is $16,000. 

Graduate students may receive UP TO $4,000 per year for full time enrollment. The maximum total TEACH Grant funding an eligible graduate student can receive for their graduate program is $8,000. 

TEACH grant amounts must be pro-rated for students who are not enrolled full-time.
Three-quarter time enrollment = $3,000 per year and divided by the number of semesters enrolled.
Half-time enrollment = $2,000 per year and divided by the number of semesters enrolled.
Less than half-time enrollment = $1,000 per year and divided by the number of semesters enrolled.

What makes a student eligible to RECEIVE the TEACH Grant and how do I apply?

1. Candidate must file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), each academic year that he or she would like to be considered for the grant.

2. Candidate must be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen.

3. Candidate must be in good standing with the Title IV aid programs as reported by the National Student Loan Database (NSLDS).

4. Candidate must be enrolled in a TEACH Grant eligible academic program. Please see our current list of eligible programs [pdf], to see if your program qualifies.

5. Candidate must have one of the following qualifications:

• Must have at least a cumulative 3.25 GPA on a scale of 4.0 in his or her most recent academic program prior to enrolling at Lesley University, and must maintain at least a cumulative 3.25 GPA while enrolled in a TEACH Grant eligible Lesley University Program.
  (Note: If your GPA drops below 3.25, the grant will convert to an Unsubsidized Stafford Loan.)

     -OR- 

• Score above 75th percentile on a national admissions test (i.e. SAT/ACT for undergrads; GRE for grads)

     -OR- 

• Be a current or former teacher or retiree (in any field), enrolled in a TEACH-Grant eligible master’s degree program. (Former teacher must be pursuing high-quality alternative certification in a master’s degree program.) Please notify our office by sending in this Teacher Confirmation Form [pdf] or this Retiree Confirmation Form [pdf].

6. Candidate must complete a TEACH Grant Intent Form each academic year. For the 2008-2009 academic year (September 2008 - August 2009), please use the 2008-2009 TEACH Grant Intent Form [pdf]. For the 2009-2010 academic year (September 2009 - August 2010), please use the 2009-2010 TEACH Grant Intent Form [pdf].

7. Candidate must complete TEACH Grant Initial Counseling [pdf] as well as Subsequent TEACH Grant Counseling [pdf] each academic year. Students only have the option of completing the counseling electronically. You will need your Department of Education issued PIN in order to begin the process. This is the same PIN you use to sign the FAFSA. To access or establish your PIN, please visit www.pin.ed.gov. After completing the counseling, you can move on to step 8 below on the same website.

8. Candidate must sign the Agreement to Serve (ATS) each academic year.

What makes a student eligible to KEEP the TEACH Grant after graduating Lesley University?

VERY IMPORTANT: TEACH Grant recipients must fulfill ALL requirements set by the Department of Education (DOE) or the TEACH Grant will be converted into an interest-bearing Direct Unsubsidized Stafford loan that will include interest charged from the date the TEACH Grant originally credited to your student account.  Once a Grant is converted to a loan, it cannot be converted back to a Grant.  Please review the following criteria VERY CAREFULLY: 

• TEACH Grant recipients must be a full-time teacher for at least four years within eight calendar years of completing the TEACH-eligible academic program or the TEACH Grant will  permanently convert to an Unsubsidized Stafford loan. 
• TEACH Grant recipients must be deemed highly-qualified by the state in which he/she teaches per the No Child Left Behind Act or the TEACH Grant will permanently convert to an Unsubsidized Stafford loan. 
• TEACH Grant recipients must Teach in a Designated Low-Income school.
  A designated Low-Income School is defined as a public or private elementary or secondary school that (1) Is in the school district of a local educational agency that is eligible for assistance under title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; and (2) Has been determined by the Department to be a school in which more than 30 percent of the school's total enrollment is made up of children who qualify for services provided under title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. For a current list of schools designated as Low-Income, visit the Department of Education’s "Annual Directory of Designated Low-Income Schools for Teacher Cancellation Benefits".
• TEACH Grant recipients must teach in a High-Need Subject Area in the majority of classes taught. High-Need Subject Areas are:
  
  • Mathematics
  • Science
  • Reading Specialist
  • Special Education
  • Foreign Language
  • Bilingual Education or English Language Acquisition (TESOL)
  • Other teacher shortage areas identified at the time the student begins the 4 years of service.  These are listed in the DOE’s "Annual Teacher Shortage Area Nationwide Listing [pdf]" (This is a large file and may take a few minutes to load in your browser). (**PLEASE NOTE** For most elementary teachers, unless teaching Special Education, English as a Second Language or serving as a Reading Specialist will not meet the full-time teaching requirement in the critical need field.) 
• Candidate must complete TEACH Grant Exit Counseling upon completion of or withdrawal from his or her eligible academic program.
• TEACH Grant recipients must confirm within 120 days of graduating (or ceasing to be enrolled) that he or she is fulfilling or plans to fulfill the agreement to serve or the TEACH Grant will permanently convert to an Unsubsidized Stafford loan.  
• TEACH Grant recipients must have their school of employment’s chief administrative officer annually submit documentation to the DOE confirming the teaching service.   This documentation must show that the TEACH Grant recipient was a full-time, highly-qualified teacher at a designated low-income school, teaching a high-need subject area for at least four years.  At the end of four years, the TEACH Grant recipient and the school’s chief administrative officer must provide documentation to the DOE that the obligation was met or the TEACH Grant will permanently convert to an Unsubsidized Stafford loan.
• TEACH Grant recipients must comply with any other requirements that the DOE determines to be necessary.

Additional Notes

• The school at which the TEACH Grant recipient intends to teach must be designated low-income school when the student BEGINS the four years of teaching service. In addition, the subject matter the TEACH Grant recipient intends to teach must also remain designated as a high-need subject area when the student BEGINS their teaching service (after completing their program at Lesley University.) If those designations change after a student begins fulfilling the service agreement, the grant will remain a grant and will not convert to a loan.
• The same years of service that satisfy the TEACH Grant also satisfy the Stafford Loan Forgiveness Program.
• If the TEACH Grant recipient is a current teacher, the four year service obligation begins AFTER completing or terminating enrollment in the master’s program. 
• If at any point a student decides not to fulfill the Agreement to Serve (ATS), he or she may contact the DOE and request the Grant be converted to a Loan.

Special notes and examples regarding the Agreement to Serve

Each service obligation begins after the student completes, or otherwise ceases to be enrolled in, the academic program for which the TEACH Grant funds were received. If the student receives a TEACH Grant for one academic program and later receives a TEACH Grant for a subsequent program, any qualifying teaching service that the student performs before completion of the second program may only be applied toward fulfillment of the service obligation for the first program. However, if the student receives TEACH Grant funds for enrollment in a subsequent program before completing the service obligation for an earlier program, qualifying teaching service that the student performs following the completion of the subsequent program may be applied towards the service obligation for both programs.

The following examples illustrate the service obligation requirements described in this paragraph:

Example 1. A student completes an academic program for which she received a TEACH Grant and immediately enrolls in another academic program for which she will receive a TEACH Grant, before she begin teachings. She requests and receives a suspension of the eight-year period for completing her service obligation for the first program (see Item 3 of this section) while she is enrolled in the second program. After completing the second program, she must complete four years of qualifying teaching service that will fulfill her service obligation for each program.

Example 2. A student completes an academic program for which she received a TEACH Grant and begins qualifying teaching service to satisfy her service obligation. After completing one year of qualifying teaching service, she stops teaching and enrolls in a second academic program for which she will receive a TEACH Grant. She requests and receives a suspension of the eight year period for completing her service obligation for the first program while she is enrolled in the second program. After completing the second program, she must complete four years of qualifying teaching service that will fulfill her service obligation for the second program as well as the remaining three years of her service obligation for the first program.

Example 3.  A student completes an academic program for which she received a TEACH Grant and begins qualifying teaching service to satisfy her service obligation. After teaching for one year, she enrolls in a second academic program for which she receives a TEACH Grant. She is enrolled in the second program for two years, and during that period she continues to teach full time. After completing the second program, she must complete four years of qualifying teaching service that will fulfill her service obligation for the second program and the remaining year of her service obligation for the first program. The qualifying teaching service that she performs while enrolled in the second program may only be applied to her service obligation for the first program.

Example 4. A student completes an academic program for which she received a TEACH Grant and then fully satisfies her four-year service obligation for that program. She later enrolls in another program for which she receives a TEACH Grant. After completing the second program, she must complete four years of qualifying service to fulfill her service obligation for the second program. No portion of the qualifying service that she completed for the first program may be applied to her service obligation for the second program.