TEACH Grant Program

Congress created the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) program to offer grants of up to $4,000 per year to students who plan to teach students from low-income families.

Student Eligibility Requirements

To receive a TEACH Grant you must:

• Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), although you do not have to demonstrate financial need.
• Be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen.
• Be enrolled as an undergraduate, post-baccalaureate, or graduate student in a postsecondary educational institution that has chosen to participate in the TEACH Grant Program.
• Be enrolled in coursework that is necessary to begin a career in teaching or plan to complete such coursework in one of the following eligible programs:
  • B.A. in Education: Elementary Education (K-8) and Mathematics
  • B.A. in Education: Elementary Education (K-8) and Special Education
  • B.A. in Education: Special Education
  • Master in Teaching: Special Education
• 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.
• Complete a CityU TEACH Grant Application.

High Need Fields

TEACH grants target education needs in these areas:

• Bilingual Education and English Language Acquisition
• Foreign Language
• Mathematics
• Reading Specialist
• Science
• Special Education
• Other identified teacher shortage areas as of the time you begin teaching in that field. These are teacher subject shortage areas (not geographic areas) that are listed in the Department of Education's Annual Teacher Shortage Area Nationwide Listing.

Identifying 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. To access the Directory, please go to www.tcli.ed.gov and click on the SEARCH button.

Teach Grant Agreement to Serve

Each year you receive a TEACH grant, you must sign the TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve. It explains in detail the specifics of the program:

• For each program for which you received TEACH grant funds, you must serve as a full-time teacher for a total of at least four academic years within eight calendar years after you completed or withdrew from the academic program for which you received the TEACH grant.
• You must perform the teaching service as a highly-qualified teacher at a low-income school. The term highly-qualified teacher is defined in section 9101(23) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 or in section 602(10) of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act.
• Your teaching service must be in a high-need field.
• You must comply with any other requirements that the Department of Education determines to be necessary.
• If you do not complete the required teaching service obligation, any TEACH funds you received will be converted to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan that you must repay, with interest charged from the date of each TEACH grant disbursement.

Learn more about TEACH grants at the U.S. Department of Education.