Federal TEACH GrantBrittany Peterson

Iowa State University

• TEACH Grant Basics• Agreement to Serve Basics• Annual Student Requirements• Grant Conversion to a Loan• Post Graduation Grant Servicing• FAO Resources

Agenda

• Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant

• Undergraduate and graduate students are eligible

• Student must be completing coursework to teach in a high need/shortage subject area

• Treated as grant unless student fails to meet requirements of their Agreement to Serve

• Must file a FAFSA– Not based on financial need

TEACH Grant Basics

• Student must meet one of the following criteria– Score in the 75th percentile or better on any one

battery of a nationally-normed standardized undergraduate, post-baccalaureate or graduate school admissions exam• ACT, SAT, GRE • PRAXIS does not count• “Lifetime” eligibility

– Have and maintain a cumulative 3.25GPA– Currently be a certified teacher pursuing a

master’s degree

Eligibility

• Annual– Annual award amounts were affected by the federal

sequester– $3,964 (disbursed between October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014)

– $3,708 (disbursed between October 1, 2014 – September 30, 2015)

– Split between payment periods– Adjusted for less than full-time enrollment

• Aggregate– Undergraduates: $16,000– Graduates: $8,000

Award Amounts

• Confirm recipient's eligibility– Proof of exam scores– Monitor GPA after each payment period

• Provide information on annual counseling and Agreement to Serve (ATS) requirements

• Provide exit counseling information upon graduation or leaving institution

The School’s Responsibility

• ATS required each year• www.teach-ats.ed.gov• Signing ATS, student agrees to:

– Teaching 4 out of the 8 consecutive years after program completion AND

– Teaching in a Title I school (low income) AND– Teaching full-time in a high need/shortage subject area

• Signing ATS, student acknowledges:– The possibility of conversion to a loan– The responsibility to either fulfill ATS or repay loan

with interest accrued

The Agreement to Serve (ATS)

• Title I (low income school)– Determined by number of students receiving free

or reduced price lunches– Determined by school building not school district– Traditionally more elementary schools than

middle or high schools– List by state at www.tcli.ed.gov

Requirements of the ATS

• High Need/Shortage Subject Area– Bilingual Education/English Language Acquisition– Foreign Language– Math– Reading– Science– Special Education– Other subject areas designated by individual

states, if the student plans to teach in that state

Requirements of the ATS

• Service Period– Student must teach for 4 out of the 8 consecutive

years after program completion– Must teach full-time in shortage area

• May be suspended

Requirements of the ATS

• 8 consecutive years may be suspended for one of the following reasons:– Enrollment in a TEACH Grant eligible program or

approved teacher certification program– Condition that is a qualifying reason under FMLA (Family

Medical Leave Act)– Call to active military duty for more than 30 days as a

member of the Armed Forces reserves or National Guard

• Approved for a period of a year at a time– Cannot exceed 3 years

ATS Service Period

• Suspension must be requested prior to the grant converting to a loan

• May be discharged for the same reasons as a federal student loan

ATS Service Period

• Grant will convert:– If the student fails to fulfill the ATS– No longer has enough time to fulfill the ATS – At their request

• Grant converts to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan

• Treated as a normal unsubsidized loan– 6 month grace period from conversion– Possible loan forgiveness

Grant Conversion

• Interest accrues from the original date the grant was disbursed

• Interest will be charged based on the Unsubsidized Loan interest rate for the year the grant was disbursed– First disbursed July 1, 2006-June 30, 2013 = 6.80%– First disbursed July 1, 2013-June 30, 2014 = 3.86% for

undergrads & 5.41% for grads– First disbursed July 1, 2014-June 30, 2015 = 4.66% for

undergrads & 6.21% for grads

Grant Conversion

• Does not count toward Direct Stafford Loan aggregate limits

• Cannot be converted back into a grant

Grant Conversion

• Occurs when:• Student ceases to be enrolled before

completing the eligible TEACH Grant program– Within 120 days• Does not notify FedLoan Servicing of their teaching

status or if they plan to fulfill the ATS

– Within 1 year• Has not applied for or qualified for a suspension OR• Has not reenrolled in a TEACH eligible program OR• Has not begun qualifying teaching service

Automatic Conversion

• Occurs when:• Student completes their program AND– Does not actively certify their intention to fulfill

the ATS– Fails to begin or maintain employment within the

required time frame that would allow fulfillment of the ATS

Automatic Conversion

• All TEACH Grants are serviced by FedLoan Servicing

• All existing and new TEACH Grant recipients will have their federal loans transitioned to FedLoan– Students should receive communication about transfer

• Annually certify teaching service– School administrator must certify student is meeting

ATS requirements

Post Graduation Servicing

• FedLoan Servicing will handle:– Customer support– Processing application and forms related to ATS

fulfillment– Monitor and track progress of fulfillment– Review suspension requests

Post Graduation Servicing

• A four year service obligation must be completed for each academic program for which a TEACH Grant was received

• Example #1: An undergrad student receives TEACH Grant, goes directly into a graduate program and receives more TEACH Grants before beginning any teaching– After completion of the second program, student must

complete four years of qualifying teaching service that will fulfill the service requirements for each program

ATS Fulfillment Examples

• Example #2: An undergrad student receives TEACH Grant, after completing two years of qualifying teaching service, enrolls in TEACH Grant eligible graduate program and receives more grants– After completion of the second program, student

must complete four years of qualifying teaching service that will fulfill the service requirements for the second program as well as the remaining two years from the first program

ATS Fulfillment Examples

• Example #3: An undergrad student receives TEACH Grant, completes two years of qualifying teaching service, enrolls in a TEACH Grant eligible graduate program, continues to teach full time, and receives more grants– Upon completion of the second program, the ATS for the

first program is fulfilled as the two years of teaching while completing graduate school fulfilled the final two years of the first ATS

– Upon completion of the second program, student must complete four years of qualifying service to fulfill the requirements of the second ATS

ATS Fulfillment Examples

• Student received first TEACH Grant– Receives welcome communications– Informed any federal loans will be transferred

• Student receives quarterly or annual interest statements– Refers to “potential” interest if ATS is not fulfilled– Student does not have to pay at that time

• Student graduates or leaves program– Student receives request for certification including

instructions and deadlines– Student receives follow-up and 60 and 30 day reminders

if the certification is not received

Timeline

• Certification accepted or declined

• Student didn’t follow steps to fulfill ATS

• ATS requirements are not fulfilled

• Student doesn’t have enough time to fulfill ATS

• Student requests to convert the grant to a loan

Other Notifications to Students

• www.MyFedLoan.org/TEACH– Dedicated website for TEACH Grant recipients and FAOs

– Obtain certification information• Answer questions to prepopulate form or download blank form

– View all electronic communications

– FAOs can view communication templates

– FAOs can view FAQs

Resources

• TEACH Grant Toolkit– www.myfedloan.org/toolkit

• Federal TEACH Grant website– www.teach-ats.ed.gov– ATS, Entrance and subsequent counseling, FAQs

• Title I School List– www.tcli.ed.gov

• Subject Shortage Area List– www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/pol/tsa.pdf

Resources

Questions