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Tuesday, August 25, 2009 Up to $16,000 available for students who will teach a high-need field in a low-income school CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Students at the University of Northern Iowa who plan to teach in a high-need field of study at a low-income school, may be eligible for up to $16,000 in federal grants as an undergraduate student and up to $8,000 as a graduate student.
Created by Congress through the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007, the federal TEACH (Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education) Grant provides grants to students who intend to teach in a public or private elementary or secondary school that serves students from low-income families.
Undergraduate students who qualify can receive up to $4,000 a year for four years, and graduate students can receive up to that amount for two years. In exchange, grant recipients must teach for at least four academic years within eight years of completing the program of study for which they received a TEACH Grant.
Schools serving low-income students include any elementary or secondary school that is listed in the
Department of Education's Annual Directory of Designated Low-Income Schools for Teacher Cancellation Benefits, available at www.tcli.ed.gov. More than 900 Iowa schools qualify for 2009-2010. High-need fields nationally include bilingual education, English language acquisition, foreign language mathematics, reading specialist, science and special education. Additionally in Iowa, music, school media specialist and talented and gifted fields are in high need.
To increase awareness of TEACH Grants' availability, UNI Office of Student Financial Aid staff has reached out to teacher education students and provided a list of UNI-specific majors and minors on its Web site that qualify for TEACH Grant consideration. Last year, the first year the grant was distributed, 168 UNI students received awards through the program. Already this year 218 students have been awarded the grant. Joyce Morrow, director of student aid, predicts more than $1.2 million in TEACH Grants will be received by UNI students in the 2009-2010 academic year.
Qualifications required for a TEACH Grant:
- Be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen.
- Complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).
- Score above the 75th percentile on college admissions test (ACT or SAT) or maintain a GPA of at least 3.25.
- Be enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate student.
- Be enrolled in coursework necessary to begin a career in teaching in an identified high-need field.
- Sign an agreement to teach full-time in a low-income school and in a high-need field for four academic years within eight calendar years after graduation.
"Students need to file a FAFSA, but this is a non-competitive grant, and it isn't based on financial need," said Deb Bartels, loan services coordinator for UNI Office of Student Financial Aid. "The grant also involves a four-year service agreement, and we work diligently to make sure students who qualify fully understand the obligations associated with the agreement."
Should a grant recipient not complete the service agreement, all amounts of TEACH Grants received are converted to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, which must be repaid with interest to the U.S. Department of Education.
"We require a 45-minute counseling session so that students who qualify understand the terms and conditions before accepting the grant," Bartels said.
There is no deadline to apply for the TEACH Grant.
For more information, contact the UNI Office of Student Financial Aid Office at (319) 273-2700 or visit www.uni.edu/finaid.
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