The Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program provides grants up to $4,000 to students who intend to teach in a public or private elementary or secondary school that serves students from low-income families.
Awarding Process
Students who meet the above qualifications may demonstrate their interest in the TEACH Grant by contacting Student Financial Services at 215.248.7182 or finaid@chc.edu. Once students have been offered the TEACH Grant they must fulfill the teaching obligation and complete the TEACH Grant Counseling and Agreement to Serve.
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Teaching Obligation
In exchange for receiving a TEACH Grant, you must be a highly-qualified, full-time teacher in ahigh-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 recieved the grant. You incur a four-year teaching obligation for each educationals program for which you received TEACH Grant funds, although you may work off multiple four-year obligations simultaneously under certain circumstances.
Highly Qualified Teacher:
You must perform the teaching service as a highly-qualified teacher, which is defined in federal law. The informational sheet can also be found online at: www.ed.gov.
Full-Time Teacher:
You must meet the state's definition of a full-time teacher and spend the majority (at least 51 percent) of your time teaching one of the high-need subject areas. Elementary school teachers who teach many subjects would not be able to fulfill their service agreement.
High-Need Subject Areas:
High-need fields are the specific areas identified below:
English as a Second Language
Foreign Language
Mathematics
Reading Specialist
Science
Special Education
Other identified teacher shortage areas are listed in the Dept. of Education's Annual Teacher Shortage Area Nationwide Listing (2017-18)
Schools Serving Low-Income Students:
Schools serving low-income students include any elementary or secondary school that is listed in the Department of Educations Annual Directory of Designated Low-Income Schools for Teacher Cancellation Benefits.
Specific Definition of Terms
TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve
Each year you receive a TEACH Grant, you must sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve. The Agreement is a legally binding document that defines the teaching obligations you must meet and specifies your repayment obligation if a TEACH Grant that you receive is converted to a Direct Unsubsidized Loan. When you sign the service agreement, you are agreeing to repay the grant as a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan, with interest accrued from the date that the grant funds were disbursed, if you do not complete the teaching obligation. Once a grant is converted to a loan, it cannot be reverted to a grant.
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TEACH Grant Exit Counseling
Federal regulations require that students who have recieved a TEACH Grant complete an exit counseling session upon withdrawing or graduating from their program of study. The TEACH Grant Exit Counseling session provides information about the terms and conditions of a TEACH Grant service agreement, as well as the rights and responsibilities that apply if your TEACH Grant is converted to a Direct Unsubsidized Loan. To complete the TEACH Grant exit counseling please visit www.nslds.ed.gov/nslds_SA/SaEcWelcome.do.
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Documentation
You must respond promptly to any request for information or documentation from the U.S. Dept. 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. Dept. of Education at the end of the 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. Dept. of Education to avoid your grants being converted to loans before you are able to complete your teaching obligation.
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Failure to Complete
Failure to complete the teaching obligation, respond to requests for information, or properly document your teaching service, wil lcause the TEACH Grant to be permanently converted to a loan with interest.
Once a grant is converted to a loan, it cannot be converted back to a grant.
