Other Federal Grants

Other Federal Grants

Federal Grant awards come from the Federal Government, similar to the Federal Pell Grant. Like the Federal Pell Grant, Federal Grants are free money – money that, typically, does not have to be repaid.

FSEOG is a grant for undergraduate students with exceptional financial need. The Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid (OSFA) administers this award for University of Arizona students with the most demonstrated financial need, as calculated by the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

The 2024-2025 TEACH Grant application is now available.

The Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program became effective beginning July 1, 2008.  The TEACH Grant is offered to students who are completing or intend to complete, coursework to begin a career in teaching and who agree to serve for a minimum of four years as a full-time, highly-qualified, high-need field teacher in a low-income elementary school, secondary school or educational service agency. If you are awarded the TEACH Grant and do not complete the four years of qualified teaching service within eight years of completing the course of study for which the TEACH Grant was received, or otherwise fail to meet any other requirement of the TEACH Grant, the Grant will convert into a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan, with interest accrued and capitalized from the date of original disbursement.

Eligible students must be degree-seeking, as post-baccalaureate certification does not qualify University of Arizona students for this grant. This grant provides up to $4,000 a year in grant assistance to students, with an aggregate limit for undergraduates that cannot exceed $16,000. The total amount that a graduate student may receive cannot exceed $8,000. If a student is eligible to receive the TEACH Grant, the student will be offered an estimated amount assuming full-time enrollment and the current year sequester. If the student is enrolled less than full-time, the amount of the annual TEACH Grant must be reduced according to the student’s enrollment status.

This grant will convert to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan, with interest accrued and capitalized from the date of original disbursement if:

  • A student receives TEACH Grant and does not complete the four years of qualified teaching service within eight years of completing the course of study for which the TEACH Grant was received, or
  • Otherwise fails to meet any other requirements of the TEACH Grant

In order to qualify and maintain eligibility, you must:

  • Be a Bachelor's or Master's degree-seeking student.
  • Take coursework necessary to complete teacher certification in a high-need field.
  • Have a 3.25 cumulative GPA at a post-secondary institution when applying for the grant (first year students:  use your high school GPA) OR have scored above the 75th percentile on a standardized admissions test (e.g., SAT, ACT, GRE) once.
  • Renewal is contingent upon maintaining a 3.25 cumulative GPA in your chosen program.
  • Each academic year, complete the TEACH Grant Application, TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve or Repay. (Agreement) and TEACH Grant Initial and Subsequent Counseling.
  • Upon graduation of withdrawal, you must complete the TEACH Grant Exit Counseling.

Be sure to read the TEACH Grant counseling information carefully, even if you have completed TEACH Grant counseling before. As of July 1, 2021, some of the terms and conditions of the TEACH Grant Program have changed.

In order to maintain grant status after graduation, you must:

(To avoid your TEACH Grant from being converted to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan with interest accrued)

  • Serve as a full-time teacher in a low-income school, as a highly-qualified teacher, and in a high-need field for at least four years within eight calendar years of leaving the program for which you received the TEACH Grant.  For a listing of schools and teaching fields that qualify, visit  https://tsa.ed.gov/#/home/ (use Chrome/Safari/Firefox to open) for the state in which you intend to teach
  • Write to the Secretary of Education (within 120 days of completing or otherwise leaving the program of study for which the TEACH Grant was received) confirming that you are employed as a full-time teacher in accordance with the terms of the TEACH Grant, or you are not yet employed as a full-time teacher but intend to meet the terms of the TEACH Grant service agreement
  • Upon completion of each year of teaching service, submit documentation of that service in the form of a certification by a chief administrative officer of the school
  • Comply with all other terms, conditions, and requirements that the Secretary of Education deems necessary
Teaching Obligation

To avoid repaying the TEACH Grant with interest, you must be a highly-qualified, full-time teacher in a high-need subject area for at least four years at a school serving low-income students. You must complete the four years of teaching within eight years of finishing the program for which you received the grant. You incur a four-year teaching obligation for each educational program for which you received TEACH Grant funds; however, you may work off multiple four-year obligations simultaneously under certain circumstances.

A school serving low-income students includes any elementary or secondary school that is listed on the Department of Education’s Annual Directory of Designated Low-Income Schools for Teacher Cancelation Benefits TCLI Directory

Highly-Qualified, Full-Time Teacher

You must perform your teaching service as a highly-qualified teacher, which is defined in federal law in section 9101(23) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended, or, for special education teachers, in section 602(10) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. To find out if you meet the requirements to be considered "highly qualified," check with the Chief Administrative Officer at the school or educational service agency where you are teaching. You must meet the state’s definition of a full-time teacher and spend the majority (at least 51 percent) of your time teaching one of the high-need subject areas. Elementary teachers who teach many subjects would not be able to fulfill their service agreement.

High-Need Subject Areas

The following are considered high-need fields:

  • Bilingual Education and English Language Acquisition
  • Foreign Language
  • Mathematics
  • Reading Specialist
  • Science
  • Special Education
  • Any other field listed in the U.S. Department of Education’s Annual Teacher Shortage Area Nationwide Listing at https://tsa.ed.gov/#/home/ (use Chrome/Safari/Firefox to open). A field listed in the Nationwide List will satisfy a recipient's service obligation if you plan to teach in a high-need field that is included in the Nationwide List. That field must be listed for the state where you teach either at the time you begin your qualifying teaching service or at the time you received a TEACH Grant.

To apply or renew your TEACH Grant submit the following:

Updates to TEACH Grant Funding:

On August 2, 2011, Congress passed the Budget Control Act of 2011, which put into place automatic federal budget cuts, known as a “sequester.” Below is a summary of the impact of these budget cuts on TEACH Grants.

  • For the 25 FY, there is a 5.70% reduction from the TEACH Grant statutory maximum award amount of $4,000. This is a dollar reduction of $228.00, resulting in an adjusted maximum award amount of $3,772.00 for full-time enrollment.

The chart below shows the FY 24 and FY 25 sequester-required TEACH Grant Program reductions as they apply to the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 award years. The FY 25 sequester percentage reduction is the same as the FY 24 sequester reduction, the reductions from the statutory award amount for the TEACH Grant awards where the first disbursement is on or after Oct. 1, 2023, and before Oct. 1, 2025 are shown below.

TEACH Grant Awards

Award YearImpacted AwardsStatutory Maximum Scheduled Award AmountPercentage Reduction from Statutory Award AmountDollar Reduction Amount from Maximum Award AmountAdjusted Maximum Award Amount
2023-2024First disbursed on or after October 1, 2023 and before October 1, 2024 (FY 24 Sequester)$4,0005.70%$228.00$3,772
2024-2025First disbursed on or after October 1, 2024 and before October 1, 2025 (FY 25 Sequester)$4,000$5.70%$228.00$3,772

TEACH Grant Undergraduate Awards for the 2024-2025 Academic Year

Full-Time Enrollment (12+ units)$3,772.00
Part-Time Enrollment (9-11 units)$2829.00
Half Time Enrollment (6-8 units)$1,886.00
Less than Half Time Enrollment (5 or less units)$943.00

 

TEACH Grant Graduate Awards for the 2024-2025 Academic Year

Full-Time Enrollment (9+ units)$3,772.00
Half Time Enrollment (5-8 units)$1,886.00
Less than Half Time Enrollment (4 or less units)$943.00

 

Three Steps to Success (Applications will be processed beginning August 1st)

1: Complete TEACH Grant Application Complete the TEACH Grant Application. You must complete each required section. This step must be completed annually in order to renew the TEACH Grant.
2: Complete TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve or RepayComplete TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve or Repay from the Department of Education. This step must be completed annually in order to renew the TEACH Grant
3: Complete TEACH Grant Initial and Subsequent CounselingComplete the TEACH Grant Initial and Subsequent Counseling from the Department of Education. This step must be completed annually in order to renew the TEACH Grant.

Note: If you have not yet completed at least one semester at a post-secondary institution. You will be required to submit an official, final high school transcript that shows a 3.25 unweighted cumulative GPA or documentation confirming that you scored above the 75th percentile on a standardized admissions test (e.g., SAT, ACT, GRE) once.

For more information and additional updates, visit studentaid.gov.

If your parent or guardian died as a result of military service in Iraq or Afghanistan, you may be eligible for the maximum Federal Pell Grant award, if not already eligible.  

We express our sympathy to you and your family regarding the loss of your parent or guardian and recognize their service to protect others and our community.

To find out if you’re eligible, you must fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and indicate on the relevant question that “yes” you had a parent or guardian killed in the line of duty while serving on active duty as a member of the U.S. armed forces on or after September 11, 2001.    

When our office receives your FAFSA, we will assign a To Do List item to your Student Services Center with instructions on how to submit required documentation. You will also receive these instructions via email directly to your University of Arizona CatMail account. 

You may be eligible to receive the maximum Pell Grant if all three conditions below apply:

  • Your parent or guardian was a member of the U.S. armed forces and died as a result of military service performed in Iraq or Afghanistan on or after Sept. 11, 2001, and
  • You are less than 33 years old as of the January 1 prior to the award year for which you are applying (i.e. for the 2024-2025 award year, a student must be less than 33 years old as of January 2024)

Acceptable documentation to be submitted to our office:

A death certificate AND one of the following:

  • Service member’s DD Form 1300 (Report of Casualty) which documents death in the line of duty.
  • A signed and dated letter from a military commanding officer attesting the date and cause of death in the line of duty.
  • Service member’s DD Form 214 documenting that the date and cause of death occurred during and as a result of active duty.
  • Department of Veterans Affairs Death Narrative Document.

Additional Information

  • If determined to be eligible, you will be awarded the maximum Federal Pell Grant after you are packaged for aid upon receiving your FAFSA. 
  • You will receive an email notifying you that your aid has been adjusted when this occurs, and you should check your awards in your Student Services Center. 
  • The IASG eligibility indicator will remain on your FAFSA each year you remain eligible and you will not be required to submit subsequent documentation in future years. 
  • Students who meet the eligibility criteria under IASG, will have their Federal Pell Grant recorded under the students Pell Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU) history. 

If your parent or guardian died while actively serving as and performing the duties of a public safety officer, you may be eligible to receive the maximum Federal Pell Grant award.  

We express our sympathy to you and your family regarding the loss of your parent or guardian and recognize their service to protect others and our community.

To find out if you’re eligible, you must fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and indicate on the relevant question that “yes” you had a parent killed or guardian killed while actively serving as and performing the duties of a public safety officer and you.  

You may be eligible to receive the maximum Pell Grant if all three conditions below apply:

  • Your parent or guardian died while actively serving as and performing the duties of a public safety officer
  • You are less than 33 years old as of the January 1 prior to the award year for which the applicant is applying (e.g., for the 2024-25 award year, a student must be less than 33 years old as of January 1, 2024, to be eligible)

Acceptable documentation to be submitted to our office:

A death certificate AND one of the following:

  • A signed and dated letter from the public safety entity attesting the date and cause of death occurred in the line of duty while serving as a public safety officer.
  • A determination letter acknowledging eligibility for certain federal benefits under the Public Safety Officers Benefit (PSOB) program administered by the Department of Justice.
  • A written letter of attestation or determination made by a state or local government official with supervisory or other relevant oversight authority of an individual who died in the line of duty while serving as a public safety officer as defined below.
  • Documentation of the student qualifying for a state tuition or other state benefit accorded to the children or other family members of a public safety officer consistent with the definition in 42 U.S.C. 3796b, or as a fire police officer as noted below.
  • Other documentation the school determines to be from a credible source that describes or reports the circumstances of the death and the occupation of the parent or guardian.

Additional Information

  • If determined to be eligible, you will be awarded the maximum Federal Pell Grant after you are packaged for aid upon receiving your FAFSA. 
  • You will receive an email notifying you that your aid has been adjusted when this occurs, and you should check your awards in your Student Services Center. 
  • The CFH eligibility indicator will remain on your FAFSA each year you remain eligible and you will not be required to submit subsequent documentation in future years. 

Students who meet the eligibility criteria under IASG, will have their Federal Pell Grant recorded under the students Pell Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU) history.