At any given time, Eastern Michigan has about 5,000 students who are working toward a teaching certificate. Under a new federal grant program, some of them could get up to $4,000 a year to help with tuition.
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Polite |
The Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant, created by Congress in 2007, gives students in teacher training programs the money in exchange for a pledge to teach full time in a high-need subject in a low-income school after graduation. Students have eight years to complete four academic years of full-time teaching. If they don't, or can't find a high-need job in a low-income district, the grant money is converted to a student loan, which must be repaid with interest.
"There's always been a threat to do this, but this is fairly new," said Vernon Polite, dean of EMU's College of Education. "I think it would be a tremendous asset for students. In Michigan, $4,000 still goes a long way. (In-state students) pay $7,000 for tuition a year, so $4,000 would be a major help. But, we have to get the money within enough time that it can do us some good."
Beyond its obvious impact on students already on an education track, Polite said EMU could use the grant as a recruiting tool.
The grants, established as part of the 2007 College Cost Reduction and Access Act, are expected to be available for the 2008-09 school year but, to date, the finer details of the $395 million program are still being tweaked by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE). Cynthia Van Pelt, associate director of EMU's Financial Aid Office, said the money would be available to students for the Fall 2008 semester.
"We've been telling the people who call our office to check back at the end of June," Van Pelt said. "If things happen sooner, we'll want to figure out who could qualify and, if we find out in time, we could just send a letter saying, 'Here's what the program is; what do you want to do?'"
Drafts of the grant designate the high-need fields as bilingual education and English language acquisition, foreign language, math, reading, science and special education. Low-income schools are those on a DOE designated list. There are more than 2,000 low-income elementary and secondary schools in Michigan.
In addition to teaching a high-need subject in a low-income school, a student must also be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen, and maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25. Freshmen need to have scored above the 75th percentile on national standardized admission tests. Students also need to complete the standard financial aid paperwork, although the grant is available regardless of financial need.
