Transcript Presentation Title

Federal TEACH Grant
Brittany Peterson
Iowa State University
Agenda
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TEACH Grant Basics
Agreement to Serve Basics
Annual Student Requirements
Grant Conversion to a Loan
Post Graduation Grant Servicing
FAO Resources
TEACH Grant Basics
• Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher
Education Grant
• Undergraduate and graduate students are eligible
• Student must be completing coursework to teach in a
high need/shortage subject area
• Treated as grant unless student fails to meet
requirements of their Agreement to Serve
• Must file a FAFSA
– Not based on financial need
Eligibility
• Student must meet one of the following criteria
– Score in the 75th percentile or better on any one
battery of a nationally-normed standardized
undergraduate, post-baccalaureate or graduate
school admissions exam
• ACT, SAT, GRE
• PRAXIS does not count
• “Lifetime” eligibility
– Have and maintain a cumulative 3.25GPA
– Currently be a certified teacher pursuing a
master’s degree
Award Amounts
• Annual
– Annual award amounts were affected by the federal
sequester
– $3,964 (disbursed between October 1, 2013 – September 30, 2014)
– $3,708 (disbursed between October 1, 2014 – September 30, 2015)
– Split between payment periods
– Adjusted for less than full-time enrollment
• Aggregate
– Undergraduates: $16,000
– Graduates: $8,000
The School’s Responsibility
• Confirm recipient's eligibility
– Proof of exam scores
– Monitor GPA after each payment period
• Provide information on annual counseling and
Agreement to Serve (ATS) requirements
• Provide exit counseling information upon
graduation or leaving institution
The Agreement to Serve (ATS)
• ATS required each year
• www.teach-ats.ed.gov
• Signing ATS, student agrees to:
– Teaching 4 out of the 8 consecutive years after program
completion AND
– Teaching in a Title I school (low income) AND
– Teaching full-time in a high need/shortage subject area
• Signing ATS, student acknowledges:
– The possibility of conversion to a loan
– The responsibility to either fulfill ATS or repay loan
with interest accrued
Requirements of the ATS
• Title I (low income school)
– Determined by number of students receiving free
or reduced price lunches
– Determined by school building not school district
– Traditionally more elementary schools than
middle or high schools
– List by state at www.tcli.ed.gov
Requirements of the ATS
• High Need/Shortage Subject Area
– Bilingual Education/English Language Acquisition
– Foreign Language
– Math
– Reading
– Science
– Special Education
– Other subject areas designated by individual
states, if the student plans to teach in that state
Requirements of the ATS
• Service Period
– Student must teach for 4 out of the 8 consecutive
years after program completion
– Must teach full-time in shortage area
• May be suspended
ATS Service Period
• 8 consecutive years may be suspended for one
of the following reasons:
– Enrollment in a TEACH Grant eligible program or
approved teacher certification program
– Condition that is a qualifying reason under FMLA
(Family Medical Leave Act)
– Call to active military duty for more than 30 days as
a member of the Armed Forces reserves or National
Guard
• Approved for a period of a year at a time
– Cannot exceed 3 years
ATS Service Period
• Suspension must be requested prior to the
grant converting to a loan
• May be discharged for the same reasons as a
federal student loan
Grant Conversion
• Grant will convert:
– If the student fails to fulfill the ATS
– No longer has enough time to fulfill the ATS
– At their request
• Grant converts to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan
• Treated as a normal unsubsidized loan
– 6 month grace period from conversion
– Possible loan forgiveness
Grant Conversion
• Interest accrues from the original date the grant
was disbursed
• Interest will be charged based on the
Unsubsidized Loan interest rate for the year the
grant was disbursed
– First disbursed July 1, 2006-June 30, 2013 = 6.80%
– First disbursed July 1, 2013-June 30, 2014 = 3.86% for
undergrads & 5.41% for grads
– First disbursed July 1, 2014-June 30, 2015 = 4.66% for
undergrads & 6.21% for grads
Grant Conversion
• Does not count toward Direct Stafford Loan
aggregate limits
• Cannot be converted back into a grant
Automatic Conversion
• Occurs when:
• Student ceases to be enrolled before
completing the eligible TEACH Grant program
– Within 120 days
• Does not notify FedLoan Servicing of their teaching
status or if they plan to fulfill the ATS
– Within 1 year
• Has not applied for or qualified for a suspension OR
• Has not reenrolled in a TEACH eligible program OR
• Has not begun qualifying teaching service
Automatic Conversion
• Occurs when:
• Student completes their program AND
– Does not actively certify their intention to fulfill
the ATS
– Fails to begin or maintain employment within the
required time frame that would allow fulfillment
of the ATS
Post Graduation Servicing
• All TEACH Grants are serviced by FedLoan
Servicing
• All existing and new TEACH Grant recipients will
have their federal loans transitioned to FedLoan
– Students should receive communication about
transfer
• Annually certify teaching service
– School administrator must certify student is meeting
ATS requirements
Post Graduation Servicing
• FedLoan Servicing will handle:
– Customer support
– Processing application and forms related to ATS
fulfillment
– Monitor and track progress of fulfillment
– Review suspension requests
ATS Fulfillment Examples
• A four year service obligation must be
completed for each academic program for which
a TEACH Grant was received
• Example #1: An undergrad student receives
TEACH Grant, goes directly into a graduate
program and receives more TEACH Grants
before beginning any teaching
– After completion of the second program, student
must complete four years of qualifying teaching
service that will fulfill the service requirements for
each program
ATS Fulfillment Examples
• Example #2: An undergrad student receives
TEACH Grant, after completing two years of
qualifying teaching service, enrolls in TEACH
Grant eligible graduate program and receives
more grants
– After completion of the second program, student
must complete four years of qualifying teaching
service that will fulfill the service requirements for
the second program as well as the remaining two
years from the first program
ATS Fulfillment Examples
• Example #3: An undergrad student receives
TEACH Grant, completes two years of qualifying
teaching service, enrolls in a TEACH Grant
eligible graduate program, continues to teach
full time, and receives more grants
– Upon completion of the second program, the ATS
for the first program is fulfilled as the two years of
teaching while completing graduate school fulfilled
the final two years of the first ATS
– Upon completion of the second program, student
must complete four years of qualifying service to
fulfill the requirements of the second ATS
Timeline
• Student received first TEACH Grant
– Receives welcome communications
– Informed any federal loans will be transferred
• Student receives quarterly or annual interest
statements
– Refers to “potential” interest if ATS is not fulfilled
– Student does not have to pay at that time
• Student graduates or leaves program
– Student receives request for certification including
instructions and deadlines
– Student receives follow-up and 60 and 30 day
reminders if the certification is not received
Other Notifications to Students
• Certification accepted or declined
• Student didn’t follow steps to fulfill ATS
• ATS requirements are not fulfilled
• Student doesn’t have enough time to fulfill ATS
• Student requests to convert the grant to a loan
Resources
• www.MyFedLoan.org/TEACH
– Dedicated website for TEACH Grant recipients and FAOs
– Obtain certification information
• Answer questions to prepopulate form or download blank form
– View all electronic communications
– FAOs can view communication templates
– FAOs can view FAQs
Resources
• TEACH Grant Toolkit
– www.myfedloan.org/toolkit
• Federal TEACH Grant website
– www.teach-ats.ed.gov
– ATS, Entrance and subsequent counseling, FAQs
• Title I School List
– www.tcli.ed.gov
• Subject Shortage Area List
– www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/pol/tsa.pdf
Questions