Skip to Main Content

TEACH Grant

Teaching in a high-need field? You may be eligible for grant funding!

Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant is available to certain UAS School of Education (SOE) graduate students and special education undergraduate bachelor degree students.

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. As a recipient of a TEACH grant, you must teach for at least 4 academic years within 8 calendar years of completing the program of study for which you received a TEACH grant. See the Service Obligation Requirements below for more details.

Eligibility

Requirements

  • Be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen
  • Be admitted into one of the approved UAS Programs listed below 
  • Fulfill the teaching service obligation

UAS SOE programs that qualify

  • Bachelor of Arts in Special Education
  • Master of Arts in Teaching in Special Education
  • Master of Arts in Teaching in Secondary Education pursuing a Science, Math or Foreign Language endorsement.
  • Master of Education in Reading
  • Master of Education in Special Education

Steps to Obtain the TEACH Grant

  1. Complete the FAFSA
  2. Provide documentation of a 3.25 cumulative GPA OR scored above the 75th percentile on at least one of the batteries of a college admissions test (SAT/ACT/GRE)
  3. Complete the following forms (please visit the TEACH Grant site for more information):
    • TEACH Grant Initial and Subsequent Counseling and
    • TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve (Preview here)
  4. Fill out the standard TEACH Grant Application and submit it to the Financial Aid Office
  5. If you have already filled out the standard TEACH Grant Application indicating the semesters you'd like funding, and you wish to add an additional semester (e.g. Summer), please contact the Financial Aid Office about renewing.

Reminder: All TEACH grants will be processed after the census date (same date as the deadline for 100% tuition and fees refund for full-term classes) each semester.

Teaching Obligation Requirements

You are obligated under the terms of the TEACH Grant agreement to meet these requirements:

  • Teach in a high-need subject area for at least four years
  • Serve as a full-time teacher for a total of at least four academic years within 8 calendar years after you completed the program you received the TEACH grant
  • Be classified as a highly qualified teacher at a low-income school (Want to know if your school qualifies? Check the Teacher Cancellation Low Income (TCLI) Database)
  • Your teaching service must be in a high-need field (which are identified below)
  • Within 120 days of the date you graduate, contact Fedloan Servicing to certify that you are either employed full-time in a teaching position that meets the requirements of the TEACH Grant or that you intend to be employed as a qualifying teacher
  • After graduating, recertify your progress towards your teaching obligation or your intent to satisfy the teaching each year on October 31

High Need Fields

  • Bilingual Education and English Language Acquisition
  • Foreign Language
  • Mathematics
  • Reading Specialist
  • Science
  • Special Education

Failure to complete service obligation

If you fail to complete this service obligation, all amounts of TEACH grants that you received will be converted to a federal direct unsubsidized stafford loan. You must then repay this loan to the U.S. Department of Education. You will be charged interest from the date the grant(s) was disbursed.

Note: TEACH grant recipients will be given a 6-month grace period prior to entering repayment if a TEACH grant is converted to a direct unsubsidized loan.

Questions?

With any questions or to submit the TEACH Grant Application please contact Financial Aid at 907-796-6255 or e-mail uas.finaid@alaska.edu.

Once all required documentation has been received, the Financial Aid Office will review and process the documents, please allow up to 10 business days to finish this process.

It will be your responsibility to log in to UAOnline and accept all or a portion of your award.