Department of Education

TEACH GRANTS

Fiscal Year 2021 Budget Proposal

CONTENTS

Page

TEACH Grants.................................................................................................................... Q-1
TEACH GRANTS

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TEACH GRANTS

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

(dollars in thousands)

FY 2021 Authorization: To be determined

Mandatory Budget Authority: 

2020 2021 Change from 

2020 to 2021

TEACH new loan subsidies1 $28,637 $27,603 -$1,034

TEACH net re-estimate -25,372 0 25,372

TEACH Total net subsidy 3,265 27,603 24,338

1 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 nonadministrative costs for awards made in a given fiscal year.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The TEACH Grant program is intended to create incentives for postsecondary students to teach 

in in-demand fields and high-need schools. The 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 high-quality 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 
TEACH GRANTS

Q-2 

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. 

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)

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

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

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

2019.................................................................................33,039

2020...................................................................................3,265

NOTE:

Subsidy costs include net reestimates (combined upward and downward) of prior cohorts and net modifications, 

which may produce significant annual fluctuations.

FY 2021 BUDGET PROPOSAL

The estimated loan subsidy amount for fiscal year 2021 is $27.6 million. Aid available in fiscal 

year 2021 is anticipated to reach approximately $93.5 million. 

By the end of academic year 2018–2019, the TEACH Grant program was making awards at 

approximately 735 institutions. Based on administrative program data, the Administration 

projects that 64 percent of students receiving TEACH Grants will fail to complete their required 

service commitment and will have their grants converted to loans. The 2020 net downward

reestimate of $25.4 million is due primarily to lower than anticipated volumes. The Department 

disbursed $17.7 million fewer TEACH Grants in the 2017-2019 cohorts than originally projected 

in the 2020 Budget. 

In 2018, the Department completed a quality review of TEACH Grants that were converted to 

loans to determine if the conversions were consistent with the program requirements. Through 

this review, the Department learned that a number of TEACH Grants may have been converted 

to loans prematurely. In 2019, the Department launched a process that provides an opportunity 

for certain TEACH Grant recipients whose grants were converted to loans to request 

reconsideration of the conversions. As of December 2019, the Department had processed over 

3,000 recipients, resulting in $17.5 million in loans being converted back to grants. Recipients 

are eligible to request reconsideration if they met or are meeting the service requirements within 
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the 8-year service obligation period, but had their grants converted to loans because they did 

not comply with the annual certification requirement. More information is available online1

. In 

addition, starting in 2019 the Department adopted a standardized annual certification date – 

October 31 – for all TEACH Grant recipients. The Department recently published a proposed 

regulation to make further improvements in the certification process.

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.

PROGRAM OUTPUT MEASURES

Measures: 2019 2020 2021

Recipients 31,396 31,777 32,190

Aid available to students (dollars in 

thousands) $85,545 $92,030 $93,524

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

Average award (in whole dollars) $2,727 $2,896 $2,905

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 

2021 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. 

1 See: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types/grants-scholarships/teach/teach-reconsideration.
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Year

Target: Total Percentage with 

Teaching Service

Actual: Total Percentage with 

Teaching Service

2012 29.0% 33.3%

2013 31.0 37.1

2014 33.0 35.1

2015 35.0

2016 37.0

2017 39.0

Additional Information: The percentage of TEACH Grant recipients with one or more years 

qualified teaching service after 6 or more years following their last TEACH award has increased 

steadily. The rates observed for 2012 to 2014 are above targets established for this measure.

The Department believes improvements in the certification process have made it easier for 

teachers to show participation and prevent unwarranted grant to loan conversions.

Distribution of TEACH Grant Awards by Type of Institution

The table below shows the award year 2018–2019 distribution of TEACH Grant assistance by 

type of institution for total funding, percentage, number of recipients, and average award.

Distribution of TEACH Grants by Type of Institution 2018–2019 

Institution Type Awards Recipients Average 

Award

Percent of TEACH 

Grant Aid

Public 4-Year $36,820,937 12,800 $2,877 45.67%

Public 2-Year 6,556 4 1,639 0.01%

Private 4-Year 34,169,793 12,210 2,799 42.38%

Proprietary 4-Year 9,632,131 2,943 3,273 11.95%

TOTAL 80,629,417 27,957 2,884 100.00%

NOTE:

Percentage may not total to 100 percent due to rounding.