Introduction
The Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program (TEACH Grant Program) awards grants to students who intend to teach, to help pay for the costs of their postsecondary education. As a condition for receiving a TEACH Grant, a student must agree to perform four years of full-time qualifying teaching service within eight years after ceasing enrollment at the school where they received the grant. If a TEACH Grant recipient fails to meet the service obligation requirement, all TEACH Grants they received are converted to Direct Unsubsidized Loans that must be repaid in full to the U.S. Department of Education (the Department), with interest.
This volume of the Federal Student Aid Handbook describes the eligibility requirements for a student to receive a TEACH Grant and the required counseling for TEACH Grant recipients, explains the terms and conditions of the TEACH Grant service obligation, and provides schools with guidance on calculating TEACH Grant awards.
Sunset of COVID-19 Guidance and Waivers
Although COVID-19 continues to affect the lives of many Americans, the urgent need for waivers and flexibilities has diminished. The federal government ended the national emergency and the public health emergency associated with the pandemic. The COVID-19 national emergency ended on April 10, 2023, through enactment of H.J. Res. 7, Public Law No. 118-3. The COVID-19 public health emergency ended on May 11, 2023. These actions triggered the sunset of many waivers and flexibilities for the Title IV, Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) programs related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Department of Education recognizes that the COVID-19 pandemic created many unique challenges for postsecondary institutions. The Department provided a variety of special guidance and regulatory flexibilities due to the President’s declaration of the COVID-19 national emergency on March 13, 2020. In addition, Congress passed legislation offering relief from certain statutory requirements related to the Title IV, HEA programs.
In general, the COVID-19 flexibilities and waivers remained in effect until the COVID-19 national emergency was declared over. For more details, see the Electronic Announcement published June 14, 2023, which describes the timeframes for the sunset of the COVID-19 waivers and flexibilities applicable to institutions and provides general guidance regarding the return to normal compliance with Title IV, HEA requirements.
Changes for 2024-2025
In Chapter 1, we have added two examples to illustrate how teaching in a high-need field listed in the Teacher Shortage Area Nationwide Listing (Nationwide List) may still satisfy the TEACH Grant service obligations even if the field loses its high-need designation.
To reflect changes made by the FAFSA Simplification Act, in the terms “Expected Family Contribution (EFC)” and “Estimated Financial Assistance (EFA)” have been replaced with “Student Aid Index (SAI)” and “Other Financial Assistance (OFA),” respectively. For more information on changes made by the FAFSA Simplification Act, see Dear Colleague Letter GEN-23-11.
There are otherwise no substantive changes to Volume 9 for 2024-2025.