TEACH Grants Review of New Requirements Presented by: Michael C. Roberts Training Officer, Atlanta Regional Office AASFAA Fall Conference October 15, 2008

TEACH Grants Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TEACH GRANT PROGRAM  Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published March 21, 2008  30 Day Comment Period ended April 21, 2008  Final Regulations published June 23, 2008

TEACH Grant Summary  Effective for the award year.  Agree to serve 4 years as a FT Teacher  High-need field – Public or Private school  Serve students from low income families  Repaid as Direct Unsubsidized Loan if student does not teach –  For at least four years within eight years of completing program, as a -  Highly Qualified Teacher  At a Title I school  In a specified subject area

TEACH Grants  Subject Areas –  Mathematics  Bilingual education and English language acquisition  Foreign language  Science  Reading specialist  Special education  Other ‘high-need’ fields

TEACH Grants School Eligibility And Participation Oversight Student Awareness Student Application ATS Agreement to Serve COD Award and Disbursement DLSS Disbursement Notification Maintaining Award Student Fulfills Service Agreement NSLDS

Institutional Eligibility (See DCL-08-07)

TEACH Grant - Eligible Institution  GEN 08-07(June)  Optional Participation  Documentation of Institutional Eligibility  Update the E-App (  Wait on Approval Letter  Contact Regional Office - School Participation Team

TEACH Grant - Eligible Institution Institution may establish eligibility in any of four ways – 1.The institution offers a high-quality teacher preparation program at the baccalaureate or masters level that is either – Accredited by a specialized accrediting agency recognized for the accreditation of professional teacher education programs, such as TEAC or NCATE, or; Is approved by a state and provides extensive pre-service clinical experience.

TEACH Grant - Eligible Institution 2.Offers a baccalaureate degree that, in combination with other training or experience, will prepare a student to teach in a high-need field and Has an agreement with another institution that offers a teacher preparation program or a post- baccalaureate program that prepares students to teach.

TEACH Grant - Eligible Institution 3.The institution offers one or more two-year programs of study that are acceptable for full credit to either – A baccalaureate teacher preparation degree program at an institution with which it has an agreement, or: A baccalaureate degree program in a high-need field at a TEACH Grant- eligible institution with which it has an agreement.

TEACH Grant - Eligible Institution 4.Offers a post-baccalaureate program that will prepare a student to teach, but does not offer a baccalaureate in education. Note: An institution that cannot be eligible using this method will be eligible based on method #1.

TEACH Grant Counseling Requirements  Annual Initial prior to disbursement Subsequent Counseling  Exit Counseling

Student Eligibility

Teach Grant - Eligible Program  Prepares an individual to teach as a highly qualified teacher in a high need field and Leads to a baccalaureate or masters degree or  Post baccalaureate Program of Study

TEACH Grant - Student Eligibility Undergrad, Post-Bacc and grad students  Submit completed application  Sign an Agreement to Serve  Enroll in a Teach Grant eligible program and institution  Complete coursework necessary to begin a career in teaching, or  Plans to complete coursework necessary to begin a career in teaching.

TEACH Grant - Student Eligibility Undergrad, Post-Bacc and grad students  Cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 o From high school for first year student or first semester of college o From college for other students Or above the 75 th percentile on one of the batteries of an admissions test, such as: o SAT o ACT o GRE

TEACH Grant – Student Eligibility Current / Former Teachers and Retirees:  Must have expertise in a high-need field and be pursuing a master’s degree Former Teachers must be pursuing a certification through a high-quality alternative certification route Alternative certification must be offered by an eligible institution of higher education

TEACH Grant – Student Eligibility Transfer Students  Score above the 75 th Percentile  School Incorporates transfer Use grades assigned for 1 st and subsequent periods  School Does Not Incorporate grades Must calculate gpa for 1 st payment period Must, for all subsequent payment periods, use its academic policy

TEACH Grant - Student Eligibility  All Title IV student eligibility requirements –  Regular Student  Citizen or Eligible Non-Citizen  Not in Default  Satisfactory Progress  FAFSA required  Does not affect cohort default rate

FAFSA and Agreement To Serve (ATS)

Student Awareness 22  TEACH Grant ProgramWeb site has been developed and is available at ww.teachgrant.ed.gov ww.teachgrant.ed.gov

Student Application  FAFSA is the TEACH Grant application  January 1, 2008 – Added TEACH Grant question to FAFSA on the Web  Response from student is “yes/no” answer 23

Agreement to Serve Only submitted electronically via the Agreement To Serve Web site. Must be signed by the student before first disbursement for each award year. An ATS must be accepted on the COD System in order to allow actual disbursements to be accepted by COD. Same ATS may be used by multiple schools within the same award year.

Agreement To Serve  Schools will be able to search and view all ATS information via COD Web site  ATS will be required each year a student is scheduled to receive a new TEACH Grant No Master ATS  ATS will be linked to Award ID for TEACH Grant  COD will acknowledge completion of ATS and notify school

TEACH Grant Processing

Full-timeAnnualAggregate First Undergraduate or Post-baccalaureate Degree $4,000$16,000 Graduate$4,000$8,000 Three Quarters Half-time Less than Half-time $3,000 $2,000 $1,000 If converted to loan – Does not count against annual or aggregate maximums. Interest accrued from date of grant disbursement. TEACH GRANT – Scheduled Award May not exceed Cost of Attendance

Teach Grants – Eligibility  Determined each payment period  If the student becomes eligible within the payment period May pay entire Teach Grant for that payment period  If the student was paid but eligibility was later changed May not pay for that period or adjust aid in subsequent periods

Teach Grant – Eligibility  Make one Disbursement without Final High school GPA Cumulative GPA not available  School Assumes liability for overpayment

Teach Grant – Notification  Notify student before disbursing  Student right to cancel  Return and/or cancel requests from students 1 st day of payment period or  14 days after notification

Teach Grant - Cancellation  Requests after 14 days but within 120 days of disbursement, school may cancel and or return the grant  If school does not cancel and/or return, student may notify Secretary - to request conversion of the direct Unsub Loan

Teach Grants Frequency of Payments  Within Payment Periods Installments that best meets the student’s need  Prior Payment Periods Lump sum for all prior periods of eligibility o Signed ATS must be on file

Reporting the Award  NSLDS will – Maintain history and reporting on TEACH Grants. Pass information to CPS for ISIR. Add TEACH Grant to Enrollment Reporting Rosters. Display TEACH Grants converted as Direct Unsubsidized Loan (TEACH).

Resources  COD Technical Reference  Updates (Available Now)  Draft (Available July 2008)

Resources  Electronic Announcements posted on IFAP Web Site 12/21/ New TEACH Grant Program Question Will Be Added to FAFSA on the Web 02/05/ New SAR Comments for TEACH Grant Program 02/11/ ISIR Reprocessing on February 15, 2008 to Add TEACH Grant Comment Code 281

Resources  Electronic Announcements posted on IFAP Web Site 03/07/ Upcoming SAIG Message Class File Update 03/11/ COD Common Record XML Version 3.0a 04/09/ TEACH Grant Operational Implementation Overview 06/03/08 – DCL on Institutional Eligibility.

Contact me with any questions or assistance: Region IV - Atlanta Michael C. Roberts

38 Supervisor of Training Officers Requests Feedback from FAAs  Jo Ann Borel  Supervisor of Training Officers  United States Department of Education/Federal Student Aid  

39 Question and Answers