TEACH GRANTS AT ST. OLAF

The first TEACH Grants will be awarded to eligible St. Olaf students for the 2011-2012 school year.  In addition to meeting all the federal eligibility criteria for the TEACH grant, students must also be enrolled in an approved program.  Students at St. Olaf are considered to be enrolled in an approved program if they meet all the following criteria: 

1) are admitted to the Teacher Education Program (you should contact faculty in the Education Department for specific admission requirements, but typically students apply to the program during their sophomore year),
2) have successfully completed the Educational Psychology course, 
3) have successfully passed the Praxis I Exams,
4) have selected a major/teacher content area that is designated as a critical high-need field (math, science, foreign language, etc.). 

Typically, the first year a St. Olaf student would be eligible to apply for and receive the TEACH grant would be during his/her junior year.

Students who meet this criteria should complete a St. Olaf Teach GRANT
Application, meet with the Education Department Chair, and meet with a financial aid counselor who will review with the student the conditions of the grant and
the consequences if the student fails to meet the service obligation requirements.  At that point, the student would be directed to complete the appropriate federal documents (TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve and Promise to Pay and Entrance Counseling).

In addition to meeting the general federal student aid eligibility criteria, TEACH grant recipients must also meet one of the following academic achievement requirements:  1) Score about the 75th percentile on a college admissions test (e.g. SAT or ACT), or 2)  Have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 (on a 4.0 scale) on your college coursework to receive a grant for each subsequent term.

 

TEACH Grant Agreement to Service and Promise to Pay
Each year you receive a TEACH Grant, you must sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve and Promise to Pay (service agreement).  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 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.

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 teachers who teach many subjects would not be able to fulfill their service agreement.

High-Need Subject Areas at St. Olaf College

  • English as a Second Language/English Language Learners
  • Foreign Language
  • Mathematics
  • Reading Specialist
  • Science
  • Special Education

Other teacher shortage areas listed in the Department of Education’s Annual Teacher Shortage Area Nationwide Listing.

Schools Serving Low-Income Students
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.
 
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!

More information can be found on the TEACH Grant Fact Sheet.

STEPS TO APPLY FOR A TEACH GRANT AT ST. OLAF COLLEGE