Federal TEACH Grant Program

Eligibility

• Undergraduate Students: Must be admitted to the College of Education. Visit the UNK Teacher Education FAQ page for information.
• Graduate Students: Must be admitted into an eligible Master's Degree program. Visit UNK Graduate Admissions for more information.
• Graduate & Undergraduate Students:
  • Complete the FAFSA at studentaid.gov.
  • Have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 throughout your academic program.
  • Complete the Federal TEACH Grant Counseling and Agreement to Serve at studentaid.gov.

To inquire if the UNK degree program that you are enrolled in is eligible for the TEACH Grant, please contact the Office of Financial Aid at (308) 865-8520.

Federal TEACH Grant Counseling

Each year you receive a Federal TEACH Grant, you must complete a counseling session. The counseling session provides the information required to make an informed decision regarding acceptance of the grant. Counseling is completed electronically on the U.S. Department of Education web site. UNK will be notified once a student has successfully completed the counseling session.

Service Agreement

Each year you receive a Federal TEACH Grant, you must sign a Federal TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve and Promise to Pay (service agreement) which will be available electronically on the U.S. Department of Education website. When you sign the service agreement, you are agreeing to repay the grant as a Federal Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan. If the grant does convert to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan interest will be charged from the day the grant funds were first received. Once the grant has been converted to a loan, it cannot be converted back to a grant.

Teaching Obligations

Grant recipients agree to teach for at least four full years within eight years of finishing their degree, and to teach high-need subjects in designated schools that serve low-income students.

• High-need subject areas include:
  • Bilingual Education and English Language Acquisition
  • Foreign Language
  • Mathematics
  • Reading Specialist
  • Science
  • Special Education
  • Other teacher shortage areas listed annually in the Department of Education’s Annual Teacher Shortage Area Nationwide Listing.
• Schools currently serving low-income students include any elementary or secondary school that is listed in the Department of Education’s Annual Directory of Designated Low-Income Schools for Teacher Cancellation Benefits.
• You must meet your state’s definition of a highly qualified, full time teacher and spend the majority (at least 51 percent) of your time teaching one of the high-need subject areas.
  • Most elementary teachers, unless teaching English as a Second Language or Special Education, will not meet the full-time teaching requirement in the high-need field.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

For more information about pursuing a Federal TEACH Grant-eligible program, contact the College of Education at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, (308) 865-8502. You may also review and complete the TEACH Grant Initial and Subsequent Counseling at StudentAid.gov.

For more information about receiving a Federal TEACH Grant, contact the Office of Financial Aid at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, (308) 865-8520.