Department of Education

TEACH GRANTS

Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Proposal

CONTENTS

Page

TEACH Grants....................................................................................................................P-2
TEACH GRANTS

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TEACH GRANTS

(Higher Education Act of 1965, Title IV, Part A, Subpart 9)

(dollars in thousands)

FY 2019 Authorization: To be determined

Mandatory Budget Authority: 

2018 2019 Change

TEACH new loan subsidies1 $30,121 $39,931 +$9,810

TEACH net re-estimate 44,826 0 -44,826

TEACH Total net subsidy +74,947 39,931 -35,016

 

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For budget and financial management purposes, this program is operated as a loan program under the 

Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990; budget authority reflects the estimated net present value of future 

Federal non-administrative costs for awards made in a given fiscal year.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The TEACH Grant program awards annual grants of up to $4,000 to eligible undergraduate and 

graduate students who agree to serve as full-time teachers in mathematics, science, foreign 

language, bilingual education and English language acquisition, special education, or reading at 

a high-need school, for not less than 4 years within 8 years of graduation. To be eligible for a 

TEACH Grant award, enrolled students must have a grade point average of at least 3.25 on a 0 

to 4.0 scale and be completing academic coursework and other requirements necessary to 

begin a career in teaching, or plan to complete such coursework and requirements prior to 

graduation. (For first-year students, grade point average is determined using cumulative 

secondary school grades.) In addition, teachers, retirees from another occupation with expertise 

in a field in which there is a shortage of teachers, or current or former teachers using a highquality alternative route to certification are eligible to receive TEACH awards to obtain a 

graduate degree. 

TEACH Grant recipients are required to meet the service obligation described above and certain

reporting requirements. For students who fail to fulfill these requirements, grants are converted 

to Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans with interest accrued from the date the grants were 

awarded. 

All applicants must sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve acknowledging that grants will be 

converted to loans if the required service obligation is not completed. A recipient must certify 

within 120 days of completing or otherwise leaving their TEACH Grant program of study, and 

each year thereafter, that they are meeting or intend to meet the teaching requirements of the

service obligation. If the recipient is not in a qualifying position (including periods of 

unemployment) the recipient must still report annually on their intent to fulfill their service 

obligation in order to avoid having the TEACH Grant converted to a loan.
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Participating institutions of higher education must provide high quality teacher preparation and 

professional development services, including extensive clinical experience as part of preservice 

preparation; be financially sound; provide pedagogical coursework, or assistance in the 

provision of such coursework, including the monitoring of student performance, and formal 

instruction related to the theory and practice of teaching; and provide supervision and support 

services to teachers, or assistance in the provision of such services, including mentoring 

focused on effective teaching skills and strategies.

Total net subsidy costs for the past 5 fiscal years were:

Fiscal Year (dollars in thousands)

2014.............................................................. ..................$5,045

2015.............................................................. .................-15,294

2016.............................................................. ..................10,597

2017.............................................................. ................153,342

2018.............................................................. ..................74,946

NOTE: Subsidy costs include net reestimates (combined upward and downward) of prior cohorts and net 

modifications, which may produce significant annual fluctuations.

FY 2019 BUDGET PROPOSAL

A full-year fiscal year 2018 appropriation was not enacted at the time the fiscal year 2019 

Budget was prepared; therefore, the Budget assumes the Department is operating under the 

Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018 (Division D of P.L. 115–56, as amended). The amounts 

included for fiscal year 2018 reflect the annualized level provided by the continuing resolution. 

The estimated loan subsidy amount for fiscal year 2019 is $39.9 million. Aid available in fiscal 

year 2019 is anticipated to reach more than $98.8 million. 

By the end of academic year 2016–2017, the TEACH program was making awards at 

approximately 760 institutions. Based on administrative program data, the Administration 

projects that 63 percent of students receiving TEACH Grants will fail to complete their required 

service commitment and will have their grants converted to loans. The 2018 upward reestimate 

of $44.8 million is due primarily to the updated grant to loan conversion assumption, indicating 

more teachers are successfully fulfilling the program’s requirements than previously assumed.

Consistent with the requirements of the Credit Reform Act of 1990, budget authority for this 

program reflects the estimated net present value of all future non-administrative Federal costs 

associated with awards made in a given fiscal year.
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PROGRAM OUTPUT MEASURES

Measures: 2017 2018 2019

Recipients 33,619 33,888 34,159

Aid available to students (dollars in 

thousands) $90,955 $91,978 $98,833

Maximum award (in whole dollars) $4,000 $4,000 $4,000

Average award (in whole dollars) $2,705 $2,714 $2,893

PROGRAM PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

This section presents selected program performance information, including, for example, GPRA 

goals, objectives, measures, and performance targets and data; and an assessment of the 

progress made toward achieving program results. Achievement of results is based on the 

cumulative effect of the resources provided in previous years and those requested in fiscal year 

2019 and future years, as well as the resources and efforts invested by those served by this 

program. Data on these measures is collected through the National Student Loan Data System 

(NSLDS).

Goal: To ensure the TEACH Grant program helps recruit teachers.

Objective: Ensure that more TEACH Grant recipients are fulfilling their service obligation 

through qualified teaching service.

Measure: TEACH Grant recipients with one or more years of qualified teaching service after 6 

or more years following their last TEACH award.

Year

Target: Total Percentage with 

Teaching Service

Actual: Total Percentage with 

Teaching Service

2010 25.0% 24.8%

2011 27.0 29.2

2012 29.0 31.3

2013 31.0

2014 33.0

2015 35.0
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Distribution of TEACH Grant Awards by Type of Institution

The table below shows the award year 2016–2017 distribution of TEACH Grant assistance by 

type of institution (percentage and total funding); and the number of recipients and average 

award by institution type.

Distribution of TEACH Grants by Type of Institution 2016–2017

Institution Type Awards Recipients Average 

Award

Percent of TEACH 

Grant Aid

Public 4-Year $39,863,145 14,216 $2,804 46.04%

Public 2-Year 24,891 14 1,778 0.03%

Private 4-Year 37,575,297 12,985 2,894 43.39%

Proprietary 4-Year 9,127,564 2,897 3,151 10.54%

TOTAL 86,590,897 30,112 2,876 100.00%

NOTE: Percentage may not total to 100 percent due to rounding.