Department of Education

TEACHER EDUCATION ASSISTANCE OVERVIEW

Fiscal Year 2014 Budget Proposal

CONTENTS

Page

Summary of Proposal ............................................................................................................ R-1

Presidential Teaching Fellows........................................................................................... R-2

TEACH Grants ................................................................................................................... R-6
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Summary of Proposal

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(in thousands of dollars) 2014

Category 2012 2013 President's

Account, Program and Activity Code Appropriation Appropriation Budget Amount Percent

Teacher Education Assistance 

 1. Presidential teaching fellows (proposed legislation) M 0 0 190,000 190,000 ---

 2. TEACH Grants ((HEA IV-A, subpart 9):

(a) New loan subsidy M 14,163 1,856 1,418 (12,745) -89.988%

(b) Upward reestimate of existing loans M 20,314 1,680 0 (20,314) -100.000%

(c) Downward reestimate of existing loans (non-add) M 0 (17,411) 0 0 ---

(d) Net reestimate of existing loans (non-add) M 20,314 (15,731) 0 (20,314) -100.000%

Subtotal 34,477 3,536 1,418 (33,059) -95.887%

Total M 34,477 3,536 191,418 156,941 455.205%

NOTES: D = discretionary program, M = mandatory program; FY = fiscal year 

FY 2013 discretionary appropriation amounts are based on P.L. 112-175, the Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2013, that provided appropriations through March 27, 2013. FY 2013 mandatory amounts are 

either specifically authorized levels, or are based on FY 2013 President's Budget Policy, updated for more recent estimates of mandatory costs, or FY 2014 President's Budget Policy, as applicable.

Detail may not add to totals due to rounding.

Compared to 2012 Appropriation

2014 President's Budget 

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TEACHER EDUCATION ASSISTANCE OVERVIEW

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Teacher Education Assistance

(Higher Education Act of 1965, Title IV, Part A, Subpart 9)1

(dollars in thousands)

FY 2014 Authorization: 02

Budget Authority:

2012 2013 2014 Change

Presidential teaching fellows3 0 0 $190,000 +$190,000

TEACH grants (loans):4

TEACH new loan subsidies $14,163 $1,856 1,418 -438

TEACH upward re-estimate 20,314 1,680 0 -1,680

TEACH downward re-estimate (non-add)5 0 -17,411 0 +17,411

Subtotal, TEACH subsidy 34,447 3,536 1,418 -2,118

Total, Teacher Education Assistance 34,447 3,536 191,418 +187,882

1 Legislation sought in FY 2014 for Presidential Teaching Fellows. 2 FY 2014 authorization for Presidential Teaching Fellows is to be determined. 3 In FY 2014, the Administration proposes to replace the TEACH Grant program with the Presidential Teaching 

Fellows. 4 For budget and financial management purposes, this program is operated as a credit program under the 

Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990; budget authority reflects the estimated net present value of future Federal nonadministrative costs for awards made in a given fiscal year. Negative numbers indicate estimated future Federal 

revenues exceed estimated future Federal costs. 5 Downward re-estimate is reflected in the General Fund Receipt account, TEACH downward re-estimate of loan 

subsidies.

Presidential Teaching Fellows

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Presidential Teaching Fellows program would provide formula grants to States that hold 

teacher preparation programs accountable for results, expand the field of effective providers, 

and make career milestones, like certification and licensure, rigorous and meaningful. The vast 

majority of funds would finance scholarships of up to $10,000 to talented individuals for the cost 

of their final year at the most effective teacher preparation programs in the State, with a priority 

for low-income students. Fellows would be trained to teach a high-need subject, such as 

mathematics or science, and commit to teach at least 3 years within 6 years of graduation in a 

high-need school.

To receive funding, States would be required to measure the effectiveness of teacher 

preparation programs based in part on their graduates’ success in improving elementary and 

secondary student achievement as well as other outcomes; hold teacher preparation programs 

accountable for results, including through withdrawal of approval for programs persistently 

identified as low-performing; and strengthen the rigor of licensure and certification systems.

States would be allowed to set aside up to 20 percent of their allocations for these and related 

activities, including adoption of teacher performance-based assessments. An additional
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5 percent set-aside would be available to States that commit to work in consortia to recognize 

highly effective teachers and provide these teachers with a master teacher designation. Master 

teachers would be granted portable certification and could be eligible for additional 

compensation or leadership roles.

States would provide subgrants to top-tier preparation programs, which in turn would award 

scholarships to high-achieving candidates. Presidential Teaching Fellows would be selected 

based on grade point average, academic major, and demonstrated commitment to teach in highneed schools, with a priority for low-income candidates. Fellows would receive scholarships of 

up to $10,000 to pay tuition and fees for their final year of study in either a top-tier traditional 

undergraduate or master’s teacher preparation program, or an alternative route to certification.

Funds would be available on the basis of program performance, regardless of whether the 

program is a traditional preparation program or an alternative route to certification.

The Secretary would be allowed to set aside up to 5 percent of funds for national activities to 

support States in improving the rigor of licensure and certification, including performance-based 

certification and portable certification, provide technical assistance to States in developing 

measurement and accountability systems of teacher preparation, and conduct evaluation 

activities.

FY 2014 BUDGET PROPOSAL

The Administration proposes to use $190 million in mandatory funding in fiscal year 2014 to 

support the Presidential Teaching Fellows program. A minimum of $130 million would be 

provided in Presidential Teaching Fellow scholarships to high-achieving students (with a priority 

for low-income students) attending top-tier teacher preparation programs. Ensuring high-quality 

teacher preparation is a crucial component of the Administration’s efforts to better support 

teachers and ensure that low-income and minority students have access to effective teachers. 

Studies have found that many teacher preparation programs fall short in a number of critical 

aspects. A majority of teachers in two recent surveys reported that their preparation programs 

did not provide them with the skills, knowledge, and experiences they need to be effective in the 

classroom (Levine, 2006; MetLife, 2006). A recent study of 29 4-year institutions found that 

students majoring in education had the lowest measurable gains across their undergraduate 

education on an assessment measuring critical thinking, complex reasoning, and written 

communication skills (Arum et al. 2011). Other studies have found that teacher preparation 

programs do not respond to the needs of schools and districts by recruiting and preparing 

teachers to teach in the fields, subjects, and communities in which there are shortages of 

teachers (Ingersoll, 1999; Esch et al., 2005). Finally, preparation programs are generally not 

effective in recruiting and selecting teaching candidates who are most likely to be effective, with 

only 23 percent of new teachers ranking in the top 33 percent of college graduates (McKinsey, 

2010).

There is, however, a great deal of variation in effectiveness among teacher preparation 

programs, and several States have established longitudinal data systems to illuminate these 

differences. Tennessee’s recent analysis of outcome data of teachers that graduated from its 

preparation programs showed significant variation in graduate effectiveness, finding that 8 

programs out of 41 were associated with a statistically significant increase in teacher 

effectiveness in at least one subject, and 14 programs were associated with a statistically 

significant decrease in at least one subject. The most effective programs produced graduates 

who were two to three times more likely to be in the top quintile of teachers in the State, while 
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the least effective programs produced graduates who were two to three times more likely to be in

the bottom quintile (Tennessee State Board of Education, 2010). Alternative routes to 

certification run by the University of Louisiana at Monroe, Northwestern State University of 

Louisiana, and The New Teacher Project in New York prepared English language arts teachers 

whose students achieved at least as much growth in a year as students of experienced 

teachers, while other programs produced teachers whose students’ progress was average or 

below average compared to other new teachers (Gansle, Burns, Noell, 2010).

Teacher Preparation Program Accountability

Under current law, States receiving funds under the Higher Education Act (HEA) are required to 

publish an annual State report card on the quality of teacher preparation, both for traditional 

preparation programs and alternative routes to certification. In the annual report card, each 

State is required to describe its criteria for assessing the performance of teacher preparation 

programs, which must include indicators of the academic content knowledge and teaching skills 

of students enrolled in these programs. States also are required to conduct an assessment of 

their teacher preparation programs, to identify their low-performing programs and programs at 

risk of low performance, and to provide technical assistance to these programs.

The Department has been working, through a negotiated rulemaking process, with States, the 

teacher preparation community, and other interested parties to make these accountability 

requirements and related data more meaningful by focusing on the most important indicators of 

program effectiveness, and also to reduce the data collection burden not required by statute. 

These indicators of effectiveness could include the growth in student achievement in classes

taught by program graduates, graduate job placement and retention rates, and graduate and 

employer satisfaction. State-level funding under the Presidential Teaching Fellows program 

would be conditioned on the establishment of a meaningful accountability system that 

designates teacher preparation programs as top-tier or low-performing based on these criteria 

and would support the implementation of systems to collect and report these data.

Traditional preparation programs or alternative routes to certification designated as top-tier

programs would receive funds to award Presidential Teaching Fellowships to high-caliber 

students, with a priority for talented, low-income candidates. Programs would be authorized to 

set aside a portion of funds for dissemination activities to support the improvement of other 

preparation programs. States would be required to establish rigorous standards for identifying 

low-performing programs; establish a clear process for providing those programs with technical 

assistance; and establish and enforce a timeline for withdrawing financial support for programs 

that do not show improvement after a limited number of years.

Teacher Certification and Licensure Policies

In order to receive formula grants under the Presidential Teaching Fellows program, States 

would also have to commit to removing barriers to the creation of effective alternative routes to 

certification, and ensure that each stage of certification and licensure requires demonstrated 

effectiveness in improving student learning.

States would have the option of reserving additional State-level funds to work in consortia with 

other States to create a master teacher designation based on multiple years of demonstrated 

classroom effectiveness. Master teachers would receive a portable certification allowing them to 

teach in participating States, and would also be eligible for additional leadership roles or 

compensation as determined by the State or districts.
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State Allocations and Activities

The Administration would allocate funds to States based on the number of students having 

completed teacher preparation programs in the previous year, as reported by each State through 

the HEA Title II data collection. States would be required to subgrant the majority of their 

allocations to top-tier teacher preparation programs with demonstrated effectiveness in 

producing teachers who raise student achievement in high-need schools and subject areas, 

have excellent placement and retention rates, and receive high customer satisfaction ratings 

from program graduates and the schools or school districts (as applicable) that employ them.

Top-tier teacher preparation programs would select exceptional teaching candidates to serve as 

Presidential Teaching Fellows. These Fellows would receive scholarships of up to $10,000 in 

their final year of a teacher preparation program. Fellows must be trained to teach in a highneed subject and must teach full-time in a high-need school for at least 3 years within 6 years of

graduation. By targeting funds to high-performing programs and high-achieving candidates in 

their final year of a program, Presidential Teaching Fellows would be more effective in recruiting 

and retaining high-performing candidates in the teaching profession.

The Presidential Teaching Fellows program would complement efforts already underway in the 

Administration to recruit and support exceptional teachers. In addition to having the distinction 

of being recognized as a top-tier program, high-performing teacher preparation programs would 

be eligible to compete for funds under the proposed Effective Teachers and Leaders State 

Grants set-aside, described in Innovation and Instructional Teams.

PROGRAM OUTPUT MEASURES (dollars in thousands)

Presidential Teaching Fellows: 2014

Number of Presidential Teaching Fellows (whole number) 14,903

Total Aid Available $149,0301

Estimated number of State formula grants (whole number) 35-56

Minimum State award $600

Average State award $10,000

1 Aid available is equal to the $190,000 thousand proposed appropriation less $40,970 thousand for a State setaside for activities which may include strengthening their teacher preparation and/or licensure and certification 

systems; establishing performance-based assessments; and, withdrawing approval for low-performing teacher 

preparation programs.

PROGRAM PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

The Department of Education will establish goals and performance measures for the 

Presidential Teaching Fellows program. In the short-term, the Department intends to assess the 

quality of program inputs by tracking grade point averages and other indicators of academic 

success and selectivity, as well as the number of Fellows with undergraduate majors in 

mathematics, sciences, or other high-need subject areas. The Department also would track 

State identification of both low-performing programs and top-tier programs, and the rigor of their 

standards for each. In the medium-term, program performance would be assessed by tracking 

whether Presidential Teaching Fellows are retained in their teacher preparation programs, 

complete their programs, and earn initial licensure or certification. The long-term impact of the 
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Presidential Teaching Fellows program would be determined based on: the extent to which 

fellows fulfill their commitment to teach in a high-need subject and school for at least 3 out of 6 

years following graduation; the growth in their students’ achievement; and their job performance

based on feedback from principals.

The Department will also examine whether the number of applications for admission to teacher 

preparation programs increases after they receive the top-tier designation. As demand for 

placements in high-performing programs increases, the Administration would expect that States 

and institutions of higher education would invest more in these programs and facilitate the broad 

adoption of practices employed by these programs so that more teachers would be prepared by 

these and similar programs.

TEACH Grants

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The TEACH Grant program—created by the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007—

awards annual “grants” of up to $4,000, to eligible undergraduate and graduate students who 

agree to serve as a full-time mathematics, science, foreign language, bilingual education, 

special education, or reading teacher at a high-need school for not less than 4 years within 8 

years of graduation. For students who fail to fulfill this service requirement, grants are converted 

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

awarded.

To be eligible for a TEACH award, enrolled students must have a grade point average of at least 

3.25 on a zero 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. All applicants must sign an agreement acknowledging that grants will be 

converted to loans if the required service is not completed.

Participating institutions of higher education must provide high quality teacher preparation and 

professional development services, including extensive clinical experience as part of pre-service 

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.

FY 2014 BUDGET PROPOSAL

The Administration proposes to overhaul the TEACH Grant program after the 2013-2014 

academic year. The Budget would, however, allow undergraduate students who received a 

TEACH Grant in the 2012-2013 academic year to continue to receive annual awards of up to 

$16,000 throughout their undergraduate enrollment. In place of TEACH Grants, the 
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Administration proposes to establish the Presidential Teaching Fellows program, beginning 

July 1, 2014, with a proposed funding level of $190 million for fiscal year 2014.

The TEACH program began making awards on July 1, 2008. 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.

Based on data from national surveys and existing teacher loan forgiveness programs, the 

Administration estimates that a significant portion of students receiving TEACH grants will fail to 

complete their required service commitment and will have their grants converted to loans; in the 

interim, they will have missed the opportunity to obtain other institutional grant aid that would not 

otherwise be converted into a loan. This may be due, in part, to the fact that students are 

eligible to receive TEACH grants early in their undergraduate education, before they understand 

the level of commitment required by the teaching profession. For this reason, many have 

questioned the effectiveness of the TEACH Grant Program as a strategy for attracting promising 

individuals into the teaching profession. The Presidential Teaching Fellows program is designed 

to address these programmatic flaws and other concerns related to teacher preparation.

PROGRAM OUTPUT MEASURES

TEACH Grants: 2012 2013 20141

Recipients 37,159 39,017 29,755

Aid available to students (dollars in 

thousands) $110,698 $116,233 $87,030

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

Average award (in whole dollars) $2,979 $2,979 $2,925

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1 The FY 2014 budget anticipates that the TEACH Grants program will make grants available through June 30, 

2014.

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 

2014 and future years, as well as the resources and efforts invested by those served by this 

program.

Because the programs in the TEACH account rely on the same performance data as the Federal 

student aid programs, the performance measures, strategies, and program improvement 

activities that apply to all of the programs are discussed in the Student Aid Overview and are 

not repeated here.