Federal TEACH Grant Program

After a careful review of the structure of the new Federal Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program, the University has decided not to participate in this program for the 2008-09 Award Year.

The implementing regulations governing the TEACH Grant were published on June 23, 2008, so we will continue our review and analysis in conjunction with other involved University departments (including the College of Education) in order to determine if participation in the program will benefit otherwise eligible UGA students.

We want our students to know our concerns rest on the fact this federal grant program differs greatly from all other federal student grant programs. When a TEACH grant recipient fails to fulfill very narrow and strict criteria, all of the “grant” funds received revert to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan with interest capitalizing retroactively from the date each grant disbursement was made. The U. S. Department of Education’s budget proposal for FY 2009 anticipates more than 80 percent of all TEACH Grants will ultimately convert to Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans.

It is for this reason we wish to take the necessary time to carefully and completely review the program regulations and continue to meet with the other involved University departments to analyze the potential impact (both positive and negative) on our future and current teachers who would qualify for the TEACH Grant.

In the meantime we encourage our undergraduate and graduate students who are pursuing degrees in education to review the much more favorable teacher cancellation provisions of the following federal and state of Georgia programs:

• Federal Direct Loan Program
• Federal Perkins Loan Program. Be sure to scroll down to the section titled “Cancellation for Teaching Service”
• Georgia HOPE Promise Teacher Scholarship/Loan Program (undergraduates only)
• Georgia HOPE Teacher Scholarship/Loan Program (graduate students only)