Guest Blogger Sara Goldrick-Rab: More on TEACH Grants

Guest Blogger:
Sara Goldrick-Rab
Assistant Professor of Educational Policy Studies & Sociology
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Scholar at the Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education


I write with more disturbing news about the TEACH grants I blogged about a month or so ago. At this point, the legislation has been approved and the Secy for Education is taking comments on the proposed federal regulations. These regulations have been posted, and they make it quite clear that this so-called grant is really a trick. I call it a trick because the Department of Education knows, and it explicit about knowing-- and expecting-- that fully 80% of those receiving the TEACH grant will fail to meet its requirements and therefore have their "grant" turned into an unsubsidized loan!


Here is the text from the federal regs:

"As discussed elsewhere in this preamble, program cost estimates reflect data on recent college graduates entering eligible teaching fields, adjusted for the percentage of students who graduate, maintain a 3.25 grade-point-average and take out a Federal loan. (In the absence of any need-based eligibility criteria, Federal borrowing was used as a proxy for unmet financial need.) Data from longitudinal studies were used to estimate the percentage of recipients who graduated from college, were highly qualified, and taught in high poverty schools for four out of the eight years following graduation. Based on this data, the Department assumed _*80 percent of recipients *_will eventually fail to fulfill their service requirements and have their grants converted into Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans."


The Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program and Other Federal Student Aid Programs; Proposed Rule

Posted on 03-21-2008
[Federal Register: March 21, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 56)]


Please, spread the word! People should not sign up for this without knowing the real deal.