How do I fulfill my TEACH Grant Program obligations and requirements?

In exchange for receiving a TEACH Grant, you must agree to serve as a full-time teacher in a high-need field in a public or private elementary or secondary school that serves low-income students (see below for more information on high-need fields and schools serving low-income students). As a recipient of a TEACH Grant, you must teach for at least four academic years within eight calendar years of completing the program of study for which you received a TEACH Grant. IMPORTANT: If you fail to complete this service obligation, all amounts of the TEACH Grant(s) you received will be converted to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan (TEACH). You must then repay this loan to the U.S. Department of Education (Department), and you will be charged interest from the date each grant was originally disbursed.

High-Need Field
High-need fields (also known as teacher subject shortage areas) are the specific subject areas identified below -

• Bilingual Education and English Language Acquisition.
• Foreign Language.
• Mathematics.
• Reading Specialist.
• Science.
• Special Education.
• Other identified high need fields as of the time you begin teaching in that field. These teacher subject shortage areas (not geographic areas) are listed in the Department's Annual Teacher Shortage Area Nationwide Listing at http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/pol/tsa.doc.

Schools Serving Low-Income Students
Schools serving low-income students include any elementary or secondary school that is listed in the Department's Annual Directory of Designated Low-Income Schools for Teacher Cancellation Benefits at https://www.tcli.ed.gov/CBSWebApp/tcli/TCLIPubSchoolSearch.jsp.

TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve
Each time you receive a TEACH Grant, you must sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve that will be available electronically on a Department Web site. The TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve 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 (TEACH), with interest accrued from the date the grant funds were disbursed. Specifically, the TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve will provide that -

• For each TEACH Grant-eligible program for which you received TEACH Grant funds, you must serve as a full-time teacher for a total of at least four academic years within eight calendar years after you completed or withdrew from the academic program for which you received the TEACH Grant.
• You must perform the teaching service as a highly-qualified teacher at a low-income school. The term highly-qualified teacher is defined in section 9101(23) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 or in section 602(10) of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act.
• Your teaching service must be in a high-need field.
• You must comply with any other requirements that the Department determines to be necessary.
• If you do not complete the required teaching service obligation, TEACH Grant funds you received will be converted to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan (TEACH) that you must repay, with interest charged from the date of each TEACH Grant disbursement.

For more information, click What is the TEACH Grant Program? and TEACH Grant Eligibility Requirements.