Office of Financial Aid

Federal TEACH (Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education) Grant Program

The Federal TEACH Grant provides up to $4,000 per year to students who intend to teach in a public or private elementary or secondary school that serves students from low-income families.  Recipients of the TEACH Grant must sign an agreement to teach full-time for four years in a high-need field in a school that serves students from low-income families. 

What happens if you receive the TEACH Grant but do not meet the requirements of the teaching obligation?  Failure to meet the specific teaching service obligation results in a conversion of the grant to an unsubsidized loan.  You must then repay the loan to the U.S. Department of Education.  You will be charged interest from the date the grant was initially disbursed. 

If you meet the eligibility requirements below and have read and agreed to the requirements listed below, you may complete an Illinois State University TEACH Grant Application and submit your application to the Financial Aid Office.  Your application will be reviewed for eligibility.  If you are not eligible for the TEACH Grant, you will receive notification.  If you are eligible, you will be contacted in order to schedule an Entrance Counseling Session.  You must submit the application prior to the end of the academic year and must be enrolled in the applicable term in order to receive the grant.

Eligibility

  • Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).  You do not have to demonstrate financial need in order to receive this grant.
  • Be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen
  • Be enrolled in a TEACH eligible program at Illinois State University
    • Elementary Bilingual Bicultural Education
    • Foreign Language Teacher Education (French, German, Spanish)
    • Mathematics Teacher Education
    • Science Teacher Education (Biology, Chemistry, Earth and Science, Geography, Physics)
    • Special Education (Deaf & Hard Hearing, Learning & Behavior, Low Vision)
  • Meet academic requirements
    • Score above the 75th percentile on a college admissions test such as the ACT; or
    • Maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25

  • Undergraduate students may receive a TEACH Grant only for their FIRST undergraduate degree. Graduate students may receive the TEACH Grant toward their Master's degree. A student seeking a second Master's may receive a TEACH Grant as long as s/he is otherwise eligible.

Requirements

  • Annually complete Entrance Counseling.  Counseling sessions are provided by the Illinois State University Financial Aid Office.  Once your application is reviewed and your eligibility is approved, a representative of the Financial Aid Office will contact you to schedule your counseling session.
  • Annually sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve. The U.S. Department provides the Agreement to Serve online at www.teach-ats.ed.gov.  For Illinois State Students, the Agreement To Serve cannot be completed until you have complete Entrance Counseling.  The agreement specifies the conditions under which the grant will be awarded.  The agreement includes your acknowledgment that you understand the grant will convert to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan if you do not meet the teaching requirement and that you must repay the loan to the U.S. Department of Education.
  • Serve as a full-time teacher for a total of at least four academic years within eight calendar years after you have completed or withdrawn from the academic program for which you received the TEACH Grant.

Award Amounts

  • You may receive up to $4,000 per year in TEACH Grant; up to $16,000 maximum during your undergraduate study and up to $8,000 maximum during your graduate study.
  • Receipt of other financial assistance may impact the amount of the TEACH Grant award
  • The amount of the award is prorated based on your enrollment status
    • Full-time; up to $4,000 per year
    • 3/4 time; up to $3,000 per year
    • ½ time; up to $2,000 per year
    • < ½ time; up to $1,000 per year

Teaching Service Obligation

  • Within 120 days after you have completed or withdrawn from the program for which you received the TEACH Grant, you must notify Direct Loan Servicing in writing that you are:
    • Employed as a full-time teacher in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Agreement To Serve; or
    • You are not yet employed as a full-time teacher, but you intend to meet the terms and conditions of your service obligation.
  • Provide documentation to the Direct Loan Servicing Center at the end of each year of teaching.
    • Form is available from Direct Loan Servicing
    • Confirms you are a highly-qualified teacher
    • Confirms you taught in a low-income school
    • Confirms you taught a majority of classes in a high-need field
    • Must be certified by the chief administrative officer of the school where you are teaching

Conversion to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan

If you fail to meet the teaching requirements or fail to notify the Direct Loan Servicing Center that you are meeting or plan to meet the teaching requirements associated with the TEACH Grant, your grant will be converted to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan.  In addition to the amount of grant funds you received, you will be charged interest from the initial point you received the grant.  The Direct Loan Servicing Center will monitor the requirements of the TEACH Grant Program.

If converted to a loan, your TEACH Grant will be subject to the terms and conditions that apply to a Direct Unsubsidized Loan under applicable laws and regulations, including, including the terms and conditions described in your Agreement to Serve, and will be reported to one or more national credit bureaus.  You will receive a six-month grace period on repayment that begins on the day after the grant is converted to the Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan.  During the grace period, you are not required to make payments, but interest will continue to accrue.