The Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program provides federal grants of up to $4000 per year, for a maximum of $8,000. 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. 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 was disbursed and will need to pay back interest as well as accruing interest the rest of your repayment period.
To receive a TEACH Grant you must meet the following criteria:
| At UW-Bothell: | Master in Education |
| K-8 Elementary Teaching Certificate | |
| At UW-Seattle: | Early Childhood Special Education |
| Emotional Behavior Disorders | |
| Learning Disabilities | |
| Severe Disabilities | |
| Master in Teaching Program | |
| At UW-Tacoma: | Master in Education |
To meet your service agreement for the TEACH Grant and avoid loan repayment, you must teach in a high need field as identified below. The field must be your primary teaching assignment for the majority of your time and not integrated as one part of your teaching assignments.
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, click here. To count for your service requirement, the shortage area must be designated at the time you received the TEACH Grant, even if the field no longer has a high-need designation when you begin teaching.
To count for your service requirement, the school you teach in must be listed in the U.S. Department of Education's Annual Directory of Designated Low-Income Schools for Teacher Cancellation Benefits. To access the Directory, please click here and then click on the SEARCH button.
Each year you receive a TEACH Grant, you must electronically sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve on the U.S. Department of Education's website. This agreement 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 your TEACH Grant converts to 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:
Complete and submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for 2009-10.
Complete the U.S. Department of Education's Initial Counseling for the Teach Grant.
Print and sign the Teach Grant Application / Certification for UW Students and submit the signed statement to the UW Office of Student Financial Aid.
If approved by a financial aid counselor, students will be contacted via email regarding the requirement to sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve.
Students who are graduating or leaving their TEACH Grant program must complete TEACH Grant Exit Counseling online with the Direct Loan Servicing Center which is the organization that monitors the TEACH Grant service obligation. At the Direct Loan Servicing Center site, choose "Entrance and Exit Counseling" then follow the prompts for TEACH Grant Exit Counseling.
Be sure and ask your campus financial aid office any questions you have with regards to the TEACH Grant. Contact information for all offices is below.
University of Washington Bothell
Phone: (425) 352-5230
Email: info@uwb.edu
University of Washington Seattle
College of Education
Phone: (206) 543-7834
Email:
edinfo@u.washington.edu
University of Washington Tacoma
Phone: (253) 692-4430
Email:
uwted@u.washington.edu
University of Washington Office of Financial Aid
Phone: (206) 543-6101
Email: osfa@u.washington.edu
| Please Note: If you are not already committed to teaching a high-need subject in a low-income school, please use caution when considering this possible source of funds. According to some estimates, only 20 percent of students who participate in the TEACH Grant Program will be able to use the funds as grants, while many students will see their funds converted to loans with accumulated interest. |