TEACH Program

To receive a TEACH Grant, students must meet all of the following requirements:

• Meet the basic eligibility criteria for the federal student aid programs.
• Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) each year the student plans to use TEACH funds.
• Be enrolled as an undergraduate student pursuing their first bachelor's degree or as a graduate student at Buffalo State.
  - Students completing a second bachelor's degree or in a post-baccalaureate program are not eligible.
• Be enrolled in a TEACH-Grant-eligible program.
• Meet certain academic achievement requirements (generally, scoring above the 75th percentile on one or more portions of a college admissions test or maintaining a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25).
• Complete TEACH Grant Counseling that explains the terms and conditions of the TEACH Grant service obligation. You must complete counseling each year that you receive a TEACH Grant.
• Sign a TEACH Grant Agreement To Serve or Repay. You must complete a new ATS each year that you receive a TEACH Grant.

Maximum TEACH awards depend on enrollment status enrollment status. Be advised that the amounts will be reduced for sequestation:

• For grants first disbursed on or after October 1, 2020, and before Oct. 1, 2024, the award amount must be reduced by 5.7% from the award amount for which a recipient would otherwise have been eligible. For example, the maximum award of $4,000 is reduced by $228, resulting in a maximum award amount of $3,772.
• For grants first disbursed on or after Oct. 1, 2017, and before Oct. 1, 2018, the award amount must be reduced by 6.6% from the award amount for which a recipient would otherwise have been eligible. For example, the maximum award of $4,000 is reduced by $264, resulting in a maximum award amount of $3,736.

The following degree/major combinations are TEACH-eligible.

Students that received funds through the U.S. Department of Education’s Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program are required to complete the TEACH exit counseling. 

Since TEACH Grants convert to loans if the service requirement is not completed, all TEACH recipients must complete the TEACH Grant exit counseling. Select SUNY Buffalo State University (00284200) from the schools list when completing.

The TEACH Grant Exit Counseling is required when any of the following conditions are met:

• The TEACH Grant recipient graduates.
• The TEACH Grant recipient ceases attendance at Buffalo State, even if the student transfers to another school.
• The TEACH Grant recipient changes majors into an ineligible TEACH program.

Students will be notified in writing when the TEACH Grant Exit Counseling is required.

The TEACH Grant Exit Counseling will walk the student through the following:

• TEACH Grant Service Obligation
• The student's specific TEACH Grant amounts
• Key Definitions
• Documenting Your TEACH Grant Service Obligation
• Service Obligation and Multiple Programs of Study
• Service Obligation Examples
• Annual Notice About Your Service Obligation
• Temporary Suspension
• Discharge of Your Service Obligation
• Conversion to a Direct Unsubsidized Loan
• Consequences of Grant Conversion
• Reconversion of Loan to Grant
• How Interest Accrues on Grants Converted to Loans

If you do not complete your service obligation, all TEACH Grant funds you received will be converted into a Direct Unsubsidized Loan. You must then repay this loan to the U.S. Department of Education, with interest charged from the date the TEACH Grant was disbursed (issues to Buffalo State). If you receive a TEACH Grant for an undergraduate program and later return to school and receive another TEACH Grant for a graduate program, you will have a separate 4-year service obligation for each program.