Department of Education

TEACH Grants

Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Request

CONTENTS

Page

TEACH Grants....................................................................................................................P-1
TEACH Grants

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

(dollars in thousands)

FY 2017 Authorization: Indefinite

Mandatory Budget Authority: 

Subsidy Type 2016 2017 Change

TEACH new loan subsidies1 $12,412 $12,306 -$106

TEACH net re-estimate -1,815 0 +1,815

TEACH Total net subsidy +10,597 12,306 +1,709

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. Negative numbers indicate estimated future Federal 

revenues exceed estimated future Federal costs. 

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, special education, or reading 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 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. 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 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:

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TEACH GRANTS

Fiscal Year (dollars in thousands)

2012.............................................................. ................$34,477

2013.............................................................. ..................14,760

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

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

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

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

modifications, which may produce significant annual fluctuations. Negative numbers indicate estimated future 

Federal revenues exceed estimated future Federal costs.

FY 2017 BUDGET PROPOSAL

The estimated loan subsidy amount for fiscal year 2017 is $12.3 million. Aid available in fiscal 

year 2017 is anticipated to reach more than $96.4 million. 

The Administration is committed to ensuring that all students, especially those in high-needs 

schools, have access to effective teachers. To meet this commitment, we must attract more 

talented people into the teaching profession, and reward them for the hard, daily work of 

improving student learning outcomes in our lowest-performing schools. 

The Budget proposes to expand and increase teacher loan forgiveness, starting in 2021. This 

proposal would simplify existing postsecondary assistance available to teachers, such as 

TEACH grants and the current teacher loan forgiveness program, by consolidating them into a 

single, more generous loan forgiveness program, incentivizing more individuals to teach in our 

neediest schools and encouraging them to stay on the job. 

Current programs have either entirely back-loaded benefits (teachers are eligible for a lump sum 

forgiveness after five years of teaching) or entirely front-loaded (grants that may convert to 

loans if students fail to fulfill a four-year teaching requirement) and have proved insufficient to 

incentivize individuals to join and remain in the teaching profession. 

The new program would reward teachers in high-need schools with forgiveness up to $10,000, 

while those who graduated from effective teacher preparation programs, as determined by 

States, would be eligible to receive up to $25,000. This new program would also reward job 

retention by forgiving increasing shares of student loan balances, awarded at 10% per year for 

teachers starting years 2-3, 20% for starting years 4-5, and 40% for starting year 6.

The Budget proposes to allow undergraduate students who received a TEACH Grant in the 

2020–2021 academic year to continue to receive annual awards up to $16,000 throughout their 

undergraduate enrollment.

At the start of academic year 2014–2015, the TEACH program was making awards at 

approximately 800 institutions. Based on data from national surveys and existing teacher loan 

forgiveness programs, the Administration estimates that as many as 74 percent of students 

receiving TEACH grants will fail to complete their required service commitment and will have 

their grants converted to loans.

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TEACH GRANTS

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: 2015 2016 2017

Recipients 30,119 30,717 31,325

Aid available to students (dollars in 

thousands) $86,773 $88,496 $96,387

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

Average award (in whole dollars) $2,881 $2,881 $3,077

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 

2017 and future years, as well as the resources and efforts invested by those served by this 

program.

The TEACH program relies on the same performance data as the Federal student aid 

programs, therefore, 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.

TEACH Grant recipients are required to meet certain grant and reporting requirements in order 

to avoid having their TEACH Grant converted to a Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan. As a 

condition for receiving a TEACH Grant, a recipient must sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to 

Serve. This specifies that the recipient must teach in a high-need field for 4 years in a lowincome elementary or secondary school for at least four complete academic years within 

8 years after completing (or ceasing enrollment in) the course of study for which the grant was 

received. 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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TEACH GRANTS

Distribution of TEACH Grant Awards by Type of Institution

The table below shows the award year 2014–2015 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 2014–2015

Institution Type Awards Recipients Average 

Award

Percent of TEACH 

Grant Aid

Public 4-Year $44,107,606 14,933 $2,954 46.76%

Public 2-Year 85,240 31 2,750 0.09%

Private 4-Year 41,285,162 13,992 2,951 43.77%

Proprietary 4-Year 8,840,989 3,069 2,881 9.38%

TOTAL 94,318,996 32,025 2,945 100.00%

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

In November 2014, the Department announced proposed regulations under Title II of the Higher 

Education Act to support greater transparency, accountability, and program improvement in 

teacher preparation. Building on work being done by leading-edge States, the draft regulations 

require States to report on more meaningful outcome measures (including student learning 

outcomes, employment outcomes, and teacher and employer feedback), increase transparency 

when reporting on the performance of all teacher preparation programs in the State (including 

alternative certification programs), and hold programs accountable for how well they prepare 

teachers for success in today’s classrooms. This information will help prospective teachers 

make informed choices about the programs they select and employers of prospective teachers 

to make more informed hiring decisions; help the field recognize excellence and identify best 

practices; and create a feedback loop to help programs identify and address areas of 

improvement. As part of these regulations, eligibility for TEACH Grants would be limited only to 

those programs that States determine to be effective or better, in order to ensure that these 

limited Federal dollars support only high-quality teacher education and preparation.

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