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**carline** · 03-08-2010, 08:11 PM

So I'm going to college right now to become a Special Education teacher. I'm quite passionate about it, and am certain that this is what I want to do with my life. Thing is, male sped teachers are pretty rare, I'm going through a school with a renowned education program, and I'm maintaining a good GPA, so all indications are I will be able to get a job... anywhere I damn well please. This is undoubtedly a good thing, however, I was just browsing my financial aid options and I ran across this TEACH grant...

In exchange for receiving a TEACH Grant, you must agree to serve as a
full-time teacher in a high-need field in a public or private elementary or secondary school that serves low-income students (see below for more information on high-need fields and schools serving low-income students). As a recipient of a TEACH Grant, you must teach for at least four academic years within eight calendar years of completing the program of study for which you received a TEACH Grant. IMPORTANT: If you fail to complete this service obligation, all amounts of TEACH Grants that you received will be converted to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan. You must then repay this loan to the U.S. Department of Education. You will be charged interest from the date the grant(s) was disbursed. Note: TEACH Grant recipients will be given a 6-month grace period prior to entering repayment if a TEACH Grant is converted to a Direct Unsubsidized Loan. So basically a free $4k a year if I agree to teach poor kids. I looked up schools that serve low-income kids in my area and literally every single one I know of qualifies. I think if I'm going into special education, I won't exactly be needed at discriminating prissy high-end schools anyways, and if I am, I can just turn the grant into a federal loan which has lower interest rates than private loans.

I don't have a lot of experience with grants and financial aid stuff though, and I guess I have a hard time believing in free money - any of you have any opinions? Should I try for it, or given my ability to work wherever I want, should I just suck up a bigger student loan and not even bother with this low-income school thing?
Do teachers even make more money at better schools?

03-08-2010, 08:11 PM	#1
carline Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 341 Senior Member	Considering this grant... So I'm going to college right now to become a Special Education teacher. I'm quite passionate about it, and am certain that this is what I want to do with my life. Thing is, male sped teachers are pretty rare, I'm going through a school with a renowned education program, and I'm maintaining a good GPA, so all indications are I will be able to get a job... anywhere I damn well please. This is undoubtedly a good thing, however, I was just browsing my financial aid options and I ran across this TEACH grant... In exchange for receiving a TEACH Grant, you must agree to serve as a full-time teacher in a high-need field in a public or private elementary or secondary school that serves low-income students (see below for more information on high-need fields and schools serving low-income students). As a recipient of a TEACH Grant, you must teach for at least four academic years within eight calendar years of completing the program of study for which you received a TEACH Grant. IMPORTANT: If you fail to complete this service obligation, all amounts of TEACH Grants that you received will be converted to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan. You must then repay this loan to the U.S. Department of Education. You will be charged interest from the date the grant(s) was disbursed. Note: TEACH Grant recipients will be given a 6-month grace period prior to entering repayment if a TEACH Grant is converted to a Direct Unsubsidized Loan. So basically a free $4k a year if I agree to teach poor kids. I looked up schools that serve low-income kids in my area and literally every single one I know of qualifies. I think if I'm going into special education, I won't exactly be needed at discriminating prissy high-end schools anyways, and if I am, I can just turn the grant into a federal loan which has lower interest rates than private loans. I don't have a lot of experience with grants and financial aid stuff though, and I guess I have a hard time believing in free money - any of you have any opinions? Should I try for it, or given my ability to work wherever I want, should I just suck up a bigger student loan and not even bother with this low-income school thing? Do teachers even make more money at better schools?
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