Federal TEACH Grant
The College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 created the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant Program or TEACH Grant, which awards grants to students who intend to teach.
The TEACH Grant recipient’s obligation is to serve as a highly qualified, full-time teacher in a high-need subject area for at least four years within eight years of finishing the program at a school serving low-income students/families.
Recipients who do not complete their teaching obligation will have to repay the TEACH Grants as if the grants were a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan, with interest accruing from the time the grant was disbursed.
Student Eligibility Requirements
To receive a TEACH Grant you must:
- Be a U.S. Citizen or eligible non-citizen
- Meet the eligibility requirements for Federal Title IV Aid
- Must be pursuing a bachelor's or master's degree program in the School of Education (TEACH LSUS and EDD students do not qualify for the TEACH Grant.)
- Must be enrolled in coursework necessary to begin a career in teaching
- Must be enrolled at least half-time:
- Undergraduate = 6 hours
- Traditional Graduate = 6 hours
- Accelerated Online Graduate = 3 hours per session
- Entering freshmen must have a 3.25 high school GPA; First-semester graduate students must have an undergraduate cumulative GPA of 3.25; Continuing undergraduate and graduate students must have a 3.25 cumulative GPA throughout your academic program for which you receive a TEACH Grant
Application Process
Service Requirements
- Recipients of the TEACH Grant must complete a four-year teaching commitment within eight years of completing their program.
- Teaching service must be performed in a high-need field, as designated by the Department of Education, at an elementary or secondary school serving low-income students.
- Recipients must complete and fulfill the terms of the Agreement to Serve (ATS), which outlines the specific service requirements and consequences for not completing them.
- Recipients are required to provide annual documentation to the Department of Education, verifying their teaching service.
- Recipients that do not fulfill their service obligation, the TEACH Grant will be converted into a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan. Interest will be retroactively charged from the date the grant funds were disbursed.
- Converted loans must be repaid to the U.S. Department of Education. Standard loan repayment terms and conditions apply.
