To receive a TEACH Grant/Loan you must:

• Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), although you do not have to demonstrate financial need.
• Meet the general eligibility requirements for federal student aid (click here for more information).
• Be enrolled in a program of study designated as TEACH Grant-eligible. Eligible programs are those that prepare a student to teach in a high-need area. For example, a bachelor’s program with a math major could qualify for a student who intends to be a math teacher (click here for more information on eligible programs at UND).
• Sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve (ATS) each year and respond to requests by the U.S. Department of Education confirming your continuing intention to meet the teaching obligation. This form is only available electronically at www.teach-ats.ed.gov.
• Complete TEACH Grant/Loan counseling each year (click here to complete the counseling online).
• For undergraduate programs, meet one of the following academic achievement requirements:
  • Score above the 75th percentile on a college admissions test (e.g. SAT, ACT, GRE); or
  • Graduate from high school with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 (on a 4.0 scale) to receive a grant as a freshman; or
  • Have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 (on a 4.0 scale) through the most recent payment period on your college coursework to receive a grant for each subsequent term.
• For graduate programs: Meet one of the following academic standards:
  • Score above the 75th percentile on a college admissions test (e.g. SAT, ACT, GRE], or
  • Have an undergraduate cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 (on a 4.0 scale) to receive a grant in the first term, or
  • Have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 (on a 4.0 scale) through the most recent term in the Master’s degree program for subsequent payments; or
  • Be a current teacher or be a retiree from another occupation with expertise in a high-need field, enrolled in a Master’s degree program; or
  • Be a former teacher pursuing an alternative route to certification within a Master’s degree program.

After the application process has been completed and eligibility determined, the Student Financial Aid Office will send the student an award notification email to the student's U-Mail account.  The student must accept the award through Student Center on CampusConnection.

Disbursement of TEACH Grants will occur during the regular financial aid disbursement process each semester.  However, the student must complete all of the application and processing steps listed above and UND must receive approval from the Department of Education before an actual TEACH Grant disbursement can be made.

TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve (ATS) and Promise to Pay

Each year you receive a TEACH Grant/Loan, you must sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve and Promise to Pay (service agreement) that is only available electronically at www.teach-ats.ed.gov.

The TEACH Grant service 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 you must repay the grant as a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan, with interest accrued from the date the grant funds were first disbursed.

Teaching Obligation

To avoid repaying the TEACH Grant with interest (having it convert to a Direct Unsubsidized Student Loan) you must be a highly-qualified, full-time teacher in a high-need subject area for at least four years at a school serving low-income students. You must complete the four years of teaching within eight years of finishing the program for which you received the grant.

You incur a four-year teaching obligation for each educational program for which you received TEACH Grant funds, although you may work off multiple four-year obligations simultaneously under certain circumstances. Specific definitions of these terms are included below.

Highly-Qualified Teacher - You must perform the teaching service as a highly-qualified teacher, which is defined in federal law. [The definition is appended to this informational brochure.]

Full-Time Teacher - You must meet the state’s definition of a full time teacher and spend the majority of your time teaching one of the high-need subject areas. Elementary teachers who teach many subjects would not be able to fulfill their service agreement.

High-Need Field

• Bilingual Education and English Language Acquisition
• Foreign Language
• Mathematics
• Reading Specialist
• Science
• Special Education
• Other teacher shortage areas documented as high-need by the Federal government, a State government, or a local education agency, approved by the U.S. Department of Education, and listed in the Department of Education’s Annual Teacher Shortage Area Nationwide Listing (http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/pol/tsa.html) at the time you begin your teaching service.

Schools Serving Low-Income Students - Schools serving low-income students include elementary or secondary schools listed in the Department of Education’s Annual Directory of Designated Low-Income Schools for Teacher Cancellation Benefits at https://www.tcli.ed.gov/CBSWebApp/tcli/TCLIPubSchoolSearch.jsp.

Documentation

You must respond promptly to any requests for information or documentation from the U.S. Department of Education, even if they seem repetitive. These requests will be sent to you while you are still in school as well as once you are out of school.

You will be asked regularly to confirm that you either still intend to teach or that you are teaching as required. You must provide documentation to the U.S. Department of Education at the end of each year of teaching.

If you temporarily cease enrollment in your program of study or if you encounter situations that affect your ability to begin or continue teaching, you will need to stay in touch with the U.S. Department of Education to avoid your grants being converted to loans before you are able to complete your teaching obligation.

IMPORTANT REMINDER

Failure to complete the teaching obligation, respond to requests for information, or properly document your teaching service will cause the TEACH Grant to be permanently converted to a loan with interest. Once a grant is converted to a loan it can’t be converted back to a grant.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

For more information about the requirements associated with a TEACH Grant, see http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/pol/tsa.html

The information provided on this website is a preliminary summary of the TEACH Grant Program based on the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007. The information is subject to change.