TEACH Grant Program

The Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program is a federal grant program that provides grants up to $4,000 to students who intend to teach in a public or private elementary or secondary school that serves students from low-income families. In exchange for receiving a TEACH Grant, recipients must agree to serve as a highly-qualified, full-time teacher in a high-need subject area for at least four years at a school serving low-income students. Undergraduate students are eligible for $ 4,000 per year or a total of $16,000 with graduate students eligible to receive up to $4,000 per year or a total of $8,000.

TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve and Promise to Pay
Each year you receive a TEACH Grant, you must sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve and Promise to Pay (service agreement) that will be 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 you that you understand that if you do not meet the teaching service requirements you 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 you 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 . You must complete the four years of teaching within eight years of finishing the program for which you received the grant. You incur a four-year teaching obligation for each educational program for which you received TEACH Grant funds, although you 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.

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.

High-Need Subject Areas

In order to meet the terms of the TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve you must teach in a high‐need field. Designated high‐need fields are listed below. 

•    Bilingual Education and English Language Acquisition
•    Foreign Language
•    Mathematics
•    Reading Specialist
•    Science
•    Special Education
•    Other teacher shortage areas listed in the Department of Education’s Annual Teacher Shortage Area Nationwide Listing.

Important Note:  Effective with the 2011-2012 academic year, the State of Georgia has reduced its teacher shortage areas to four subjects: Mathematics, Science, Spanish, and Special Education.  Students who previously qualified for TEACH based on Georgia’s teacher shortage list in such subjects as elementary instruction or Early Childhood Education, language arts, history etc. are no longer qualify for TEACH Grant.


TEACH Grant Eligible Programs
LaGrange College has designated the following programs as TEACH Grant eligible.

Graduate:
Master of Art and Teaching
Master of Education

Undergraduate:
Biology (B.A. or B.S)
Biochemistry
Mathematics (B.A. or B.S)
Spanish*

* Program(s) listed on the 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 the Department of Education’s Annual Directory of Designated Low-Income Schools for Teacher Cancellation Benefits. 
 
Documentation
You 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 you while you are still in school as well as once you are out of school. You will be asked regularly to confirm that you either still intend to teach or that you are teaching as required. You must provide documentation to the U.S. Department of Education at the end of each year of teaching.

If you temporarily cease enrollment in your program of study or if you encounter situations that affect your ability to begin or continue teaching, you will need to stay in touch with the U.S. Department of Education to avoid your grants being converted to loans before you are able to complete your teaching obligation.

Student Eligibility Requirements
To receive a TEACH Grant you must:
•    Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
•     Meet the general eligibility requirements for federal student aid.
•    Be fully admitted into the LaGrange College Teacher Education Program in a TEACH Grant eligible program. 
•    For undergraduate programs, meet one of the following academic achievement requirements

o    Score above the 75th percentile on one battery (Verbal (critical reading), Math, etc.) of a nationally-normed standardized college admissions test (e.g. SAT, ACT, GRE], or
o    Graduated from high school with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 (on a 4.0 scale) to receive a grant as an entering freshman in your first term, or
o    Have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 (on a 4.0 scale) on your LaGrange College coursework to receive a grant and to maintain eligibility for each subsequent term.
For graduate programs, meet one of the following academic standards:
o    Score above the 75th percentile on one battery (Verbal (critical reading), Math, etc.) of a nationally- normed standardized college admissions test (e.g. SAT, ACT, GRE), or
o    Have an undergraduate cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 (on a 4.0 scale) to receive a grant in the first term, or
o    Have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 (on a 4.0 scale) through the most recent term in the Master's degree program and for subsequent payments; or
o    Be a current teacher or be a retiree from another occupation with expertise in a high-need field enrolled in a Master's degree program; or
o    Be a former teacher pursuing an alternative route to certification within a Master's degree program.
•    Submit a TEACH Grant Request Form.
•    Complete TEACH Grant Counseling and your TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve  at www.teach-ats.ed.gov.

IMPORTANT REMINDER
Failure to complete the teaching obligation, respond to requests for information, or properly document your teaching service will cause the TEACH Grant to be permanently converted to a loan with interest.

Once a grant is converted to a loan it can’t be converted back to a grant!

FOR MORE INFORMATION
For more information about the TEACH Grant you should read the TEACH Grant Fact Sheet.

For information about TEACH Grant eligible programs, contact:

Dr. Don Livingston
Chair, Education Department
Office phone: (706) 880-8017
Email: dlivingston@lagrange.edu

For more information about the TEACH Grant Program, contact:

Sylvia Smith
Director of Financial Aid
Office Phone: (706) 880-8229
Email: ssmith@lagrange.edu