Final TEACH Grant regulations require higher education institutions to counsel TEACH Grant recipients about their obligations under the program and the consequences for failing to meet those obligations. NASFAA has developed the attached charts to help members determine what counseling they need to provide to comply with TEACH Grant regulations. These charts provide an excellent benchmarking tool to ensure that you are in compliance, as well as an assessment tool to use when evaluating the capacity of vendor products you may use to help you meet the requirements.

The U.S. Department of Education has indicated it will provide on-line, interactive TEACH Grant counseling on behalf of schools beginning in 2009-10, but schools must provide grant recipients with initial, subsequent, and exit counseling for the 2008-09 academic year.

Many aspects of the TEACH Grant counseling mirror those already provided by schools for Stafford Loan borrowers. The attached charts include a comparison between the TEACH and Stafford Loan counseling requirements. On page 4, the requirements are regrouped and additional detail is provided according to each category of TEACH counseling.

Some companies are selling TEACH Grant counseling to institutions, but this does not eliminate the institution's responsibility to ensure that the counseling meets the Department's counseling requirements. If the counseling does not meet the minimum regulatory requirements, the institution remains liable.

Additionally, because the penalty for students who fail to meet the TEACH Grant service agreement is so severe, an institution's teacher education faculty and advisors should provide TEACH Grant recipients with supplemental academic and career counseling above and beyond the minimum requirements defined in the regulations.

For more information about the final TEACH Grant regulations, please see NASFAA's Webinar series on this topic, presented in association with the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. After clicking on the recording you wish to view, click on "Register and View" to see the entire Webinar.

The TEACH Grant Counseling Requirements Charts are a NASFAA member benefit and require a NASFAA user name and password for access.

By Haley Chitty
NASFAA Associate Director of Communications

Posted 07/28/08 to www.NASFAA.org. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited. Please submit Web Site questions or comments to Web@NASFAA.org.