A new federal grant will be available beginning this fall for all education majors.
The Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant will give undergraduate and graduate education majors, as well as teachers who are obtaining graduate degrees, $4,000 a year if they agree to fulfill a service obligation.
In accepting the grant, recipients must agree to teach in an elementary or secondary school for four years out of the eight years following graduation.
Under the grant's policy, recipients must teach in mathematics, science, a foreign language, bilingual education, special education or in another field designated as highly needed, said Nadine Hamrick, associate director of student financial assistance.
The grant is limited to the cost of education, replaces the expected family contribution and can be obtained even if enrolled part-time, according to the Board of Education Web site.
Students should indicate on their Federal Application For Student Aid that they are studying education to be a teacher, Hamrick said.
"That gives us an indicator we can use to make that award available to students," Hamrick said. "Then you have to sign off saying you understand that by accepting this money, you have to teach under the grant's criteria for four years."
In completing the four-year teaching requirement, the grant remains free money; however, if the student decides at some point not to pursue teaching, the TEACH grant will become a direct unsubsidized loan, Hamrick said.
The Department of Education will keep data of when the grant was issued and to whom, as well as how much interest has accrued. The student will be responsible for the full amount of the grant in addition to the interest, Hamrick said.
Junior elementary education major, Nicole Hudson, said she wonders if receiving the grant for only one year will mean working under the grant's guidelines for four years.
"If I only receive the grant my senior year, am I still required to work for four?" Hudson said.
Issues still need to be worked out and questions need to be answered, but the particulars will be in place once the fall semester begins, Hamrick said.
Erin Thompson can be contacted at thompson234@marshall.edu.
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