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TEACH Grants

The College Cost Reduction and Access Act (CCRAA), created the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program. The first TEACH grants were awarded for the 2008-2009 award year. Eligible undergraduate and graduate students can receive up to $4,000 per year for a total of $16,000 for undergraduate study and up to $ 8,000 for graduate study. Eligible students must be accepted into the Undergraduate and Graduate Teacher Education or Teacher Certification Programs at Mansfield University and agree to teach full-time in a high-need subject area for at least four years at schools that serve students from low-income families. Part-time students are eligible, but the grant will be reduced based on the student’s enrollment status.

Student Eligibility Requirements

• file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) each year that the student receives the grant (student does not have to demonstrate financial need in order to qualify)
• be a U.S. Citizen or eligible non-citizen
•  have a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least a 3.25
• successfully passed the Praxis I exams
•  major in one of the high need subject areas as follows:
  • Foreign Language
  • Mathematics
  • Reading Specialist
  • Science
  • Special Education

• attend an in-person TEACH Grant counseling session (conducted by the Financial Aid Office)
• complete an on-line TEACH Grant counseling session
• sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve and Promise to Pay each year

TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve and Promise to Pay

Each year a student receives a TEACH Grant, the student must sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve and Promise to Pay (service agreement) that is available electronically on a Department of Education Web site. The TEACH Grant service agreement specifies the conditions under which the grant will be awarded, the teaching service requirements, and includes an acknowledgment by the student that they understand that if they do not meet the teaching service requirements they must repay the grant as a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan, with interest accrued from the date the grant funds were first disbursed.

Teaching Obligation

To avoid repaying the TEACH Grant with interest, a student must be a highly-qualified, full-time teacher in a high-need subject area for at least four years at a school serving low-income students. The student must complete the four years of teaching within eight years of finishing the program for which the student received the grant. A student will incur a four-year teaching obligation for each educational program for which the student received TEACH Grant funds, although the student may work off multiple four-year obligations simultaneously under certain circumstances. Specific definitions of these terms are included below.

Highly-Qualified Teacher

You must perform the teaching service as a highly-qualified teacher, which is defined in federal law. The definition can be found on-line at: www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg107.html.

Full-Time Teacher

You must meet the state’s definition of a full time teacher and spend the majority (at least 51 percent) of your time teaching one of the high-need subject areas. Elementary teachers who teach many subjects would not be able to fulfill their service agreement.

Schools Serving Low-Income Students

The student must teach at a Title I school which serves low-income students. Schools serving low-income students include any elementary or secondary school that is listed in the Department of Education’s Annual Directory of Designated Low-Income Schools for Teacher Cancellation Benefits at www.tcli.ed.gov/CBSWebApp/tcli/TCLIPubSchoolSearch.jsp.

Documentation

Students must respond promptly to any requests for information or documentation from the U.S. Department of Education, even if they seem repetitive. These requests will be sent to the student while they are still in school as well as once you are out of school. The student will be asked regularly to confirm that they either still intend to teach or the student is teaching as required. The student must provide documentation to the U.S. Department of Education at the end of each year of teaching.

If the student temporarily ceases enrollment in their program of study or if they encounter situations that affect their ability to begin or continue teaching, the student will need to stay in touch with the U.S. Department of Education in order to prevent the grant from being converted to a Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan.

High-Need Subject Areas

Listed below is the list of eligible TEACH majors by program type:

Undergraduate Programs

• Special Education
• Early Childhood
• Teacher Education
  • Chemistry
  • Earth & Space Science
  • French
  • Mathematics
  • Physics
  • Spanish
  • German

Post-Baccalaureate Certification Programs

• Elementary Education
• Secondary Education
  • Chemistry
  • Earth & Space Science
  • French
  • Mathematics
  • Special Education
  • Physics
  • Spanish

Graduate Programs

• Master of Education
  • Elementary
  • Special Education
  • Reading Specialist

IF A STUDENT FAILS TO COMPLETE THE FOUR-YEAR TEACHING OBLIGATION THE STUDENT WILL BE REQUIRED TO REPAY THE GRANT WITH INTEREST!!!

Please Note: The TEACH grant must be repaid as a Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan if the student changes his/her major from one of the high need subject areas listed above.

Agreement to Serve