Federal TEACH Grant

The Federal Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant program was created to fill the teacher shortages in high-need fields. The TEACH Grant is the first federal grant program that requires a service agreement.

Award

The Federal TEACH Grant allows up to $4,000 per year for full-time students on both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Funds can only be used for your first bachelor's or graduate degree. Amounts are prorated according to enrollment levels per term.

Additionally, Congress passed the Budget Control Act of 2011, which has caused federal budget cuts to this program, known as a “sequester.” For the 2017-18 award year, students with TEACH grant funds first disbursed on or after October 1, 2017 and prior to October 1, 2018 will see a reduction of 6.6% from their originally approved award amount. For the 2018-19 award year, students with TEACH grant funds first disbursed on or after October 1, 2018 and prior to October 1, 2019 will see a reduction of 6.2% from their originally approved award amount. More details about sequestration can be found here.

Eligibility Requirements

• Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
  • You do not have to demonstrate financial need
  • You can learn more about the FAFSA in this video.
• Be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen
• Be enrolled in an eligible program
• Be enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate student in a post-secondary educational institution that has chosen to participate in the Federal TEACH Grant Program
• Be enrolled in coursework that is necessary to begin a career in teaching or plan to complete such coursework
• 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 Federal TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve (ATS)

Eligible Majors for 2017-2018 TEACH Grant 

Bachelor's Degree Programs

All undergraduate programs must lead to licensure in order to qualify. Currently, all undergraduate Liberty University Online (LUO) education programs are non-licensure. 

• BATC: Business Administration: Teacher Licensure
• BITC-Biology (TL)
• CSTC-Computer Science (TL)
• EEEN-Elementary Education: English
• EEMT-Elementary Education: Math
• ENBT-Environmental Biology (TL)
• EESC-Elementary Education: Science
• EESP-Elementary Education: Spanish
• EESS-Elementary Education: Social Studies
• ENTC-English (TC)
• ESLT: Teaching English as a Second Langauge (TL)
• FATC: Family and Consumer Science (TL)
• ISSE-Special Education Integrated Studies
• KITC-Kinesiology (TL) 
• MATC-Mathematics (TL)
• SOST-Social Sciences (TL)
• SPAT-Spanish (TL)

Master's Degree Programs

• MERS-M.Ed.: Reading Specialist Endorsement 
• MESC-M.Ed.: School Counseling
• MEMS-M.Ed.: Math Specialist
• MTEL-MAT: Elementary Education
• MTMI-MAT: Middle School
• MTSC-MAT: Secondary Education
• MTSL-MAT: Special Education

Grandfathered Programs

• MSCL-M.Ed.: School Counseling (TL)
• MPMS-M.Ed.: Program Specialist-Math
• MTEE-MAT: Elementary Education
• MTLM-M.Ed.: Middle Grades
• MTMG-MAT: Middle Grades
• MTSE-MAT: Secondary Education
• MTSP-MAT: Special Education

Apply for TEACH Grant

1. Complete the TEACH Application in ASIST.
   You will only see the TEACH Grant application as an option if you are in an eligible program. If you meet all of the requirements, your award will be packaged when the application review is finished.
2. Next, you need to sign an "Agreement to Serve" contract with the federal government and complete the TEACH Grant federal entrance counseling before the funds are disbursed to your account.

Service Agreement

In exchange for receiving a Federal TEACH Grant, you must agree to serve as a full-time teacher for at least 4 of the 8 years following the completion of your program. You must also teach in a high-need field in a school that serves low-income students.

If you do not complete the service obligation, the U.S. Department of Education will convert all Federal TEACH Grant funds that you received to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Student Loan. You will then have to repay the loan and will be charged interest from the date the grant(s) disbursed.

• More information about the Service Agreement can be founds here.

High Need Fields

• Career and Technical Education
• Elementary Education
• English
• Foreign Languages
• Health and Physical Education
• History and Social Sciences
• Mathematics
• Middle Education
• School Counselor
• Special Education

• Federal TEACH Grant Information
• Eligible Schools: Teacher Cancellation Low Income Directory