Federal TEACH Grant Program
The Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH)
Grant Program 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 provided regarding this grant, you are interested
in learning more about the TEACH Grant Program, you should contact Kristy
O’Kief, Director of Financial Aid.
Effective Dates
The first TEACH Grants will be awarded to eligible students for the
2008–2009 school year.
Conditions
In exchange for receiving a TEACH Grant, you must agree to serve as
a full-time teacher in a high-need field 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 Requirements
Department of Education federal requirements:
- 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. Such coursework may
include subject area courses (e.g., math courses for a student who
intends to be a math teacher).
- 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 (see below for more information
on the TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve).
- Complete TEACH Grant counseling each year
Dakota Wesleyan University requirements for undergraduates:
- Must be at least in second year of education major
High-Need Field
High-need fields are the specific areas identified below:
- 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. To access the listing, please
go to www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/pol/tsa.doc.
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 a TEACH Grant Agreement
to Serve that will be available electronically on a Department of Education
website. The TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve 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 disbursed. Specifically, the TEACH Grant Agreement
to Serve will require the following:
- For each TEACH Grant-eligible 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,
TEACH Grant 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.
Teach Grant Eligible Programs at Dakota Wesleyan
University
Undergraduate:
- 7-12 Mathematics Education
- 7-12 Science–Biology Education
- K-12 Special Education
- 5-8 Middle Level Education–Mathematics
- 5-8 Middle Level Education–Natural Science
Master of Arts – Education
- Curriculum and Instruction
- Secondary Certification and Degree
Applying for the Federal TEACH Grant
- Step 1- Review the
information above so you completely understand the Federal TEACH Grant
program and to see if you meet the criteria for applying for this
federal grant.
- Step 2- Complete
the online TEACH
Grant Counseling; required per federal regulations.
- Step 3- Set up an
appointment with Kristy O’Kief, Director
of Financial Aid for additional information and counseling on TEACH
Grant. This must be completed before you can proceed to Step 4.
- Step 4- Complete the
TEACH
Grant Agreement to Serve; required to complete each year before
receiving this grant.
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