TEACH GRANT PROGRAM
TEACH GRANT PROGRAM
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. If, after reading all of the information on this fact sheet, you are interested in learning more about the TEACH Grant Program, you should contact the financial aid office at the college where you will be enrolled starting with the 2008-2009 school year.
Effective Dates
The first TEACH Grants will be awarded to eligible students for the 2008-2009 school year.
Conditions Teaching Obligation
In exchange for receiving a TEACH Grant, you must agree to serve as a highly qualified full-time teacher in a high-need subject area 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 Criteria for MC Students
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 to be eligible.
* Be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen without a bachelor’s degree.
* Be enrolled in the MC Teacher Education Transfer Programs in Mathematics (605), Physics (603), or Spanish (602). These are the only programs approved by the U.S. Department of Education for TEACH at MC. as an undergraduate, post-baccalaureate, or graduate student in a post secondary 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. Such course work may include subject area courses (e.g., math courses for a student who intends to be a math teacher).
* Meet certain academic achievement requirements
* have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 as a high school graduate and maintain that GPA throughout your academic program. generally,
* or 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).
High-Need Field Subject Areas
High-need fields are the specific areas identified below: approved for MC students:
* Bilingual Education and English Language Acquisition
* Foreign Language, specifically Spanish
* Mathematics
* Reading Specialist
* Science
* Special Education
* Physics
Other teacher shortage areas are listed in the Department of Education’s Annual Teacher Shortage Area Nationwide Listing at http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/pol/tsa.doc.