State
Iowa College Aid
11/16/18
Grants of up to $4,000 to Iowa teachers working in designated shortage areas throughout the State. Eligible applicants for the 2018-2019 school year are teachers renewing previous awards and recent graduates who teach full time in shortage areas designated by the State.
The following fields have been determined by the Iowa Department of Education as shortages in Iowa for the 2018-2019 school year. The chart below lists the designated shortage areas in order from highest need to lowest need which factors into Awarding Priority in the Teach Iowa Scholar (TIS) Program:
- Hearing Impaired - Birth to 21
- Visually Impaired - Birth to 21
- English as a Second Language - K-12
- Industrial Technology - 5-12
- All Science - 5-12
- Instructional Strategist II BD/LD - K-12
- Instructional Strategist II Mental Disabilities - K-12
- Instructional Strategist II Physical Disabilities - K-12
- Teacher Librarian - K-12
- Family and Consumer Sciences - 5-12
- Agriculture - 5-12
- Basic Science - 5-12
- K-8 Instructional Strategist I Mild/Moderate - K-8
- Pre-K-Grade 3 Regular/Special Education (serving in Special Education or in Early Childhood inclusive classrooms only) - PreK-3
- 5-12 Instructional Strategist I Mild/Moderate - 5-12
- Foreign Language - K-12
- Professional School Counselor (K-8 & 5-12) - K-12
- Talented & Gifted (K-12) - K-12
- Early Childhood Special Education - PreK-K
- Physics (5-12) - 5-12
GrantWatch ID#: 150336
The Program provides awards of up to $4,000 a year, for a maximum of five years.
Up to 5 consecutive years of full-time employment.
Qualified teachers are those currently teaching in designated shortage areas who meet all of the following eligibility criteria. An applicant must:
- Have graduated from a teacher preparation program on/after January 1, 2013, including undergraduate, masters or intern programs. (Due to funding limitations, only applications from recent graduates are being solicited for the 2018-19 application cycle. Please note that completing coursework to add an endorsement to a teaching license does not qualify.)
- Graduate in the top 25% academically of all teacher preparation program graduates during the academic year of graduation. 'Top 25% academically’ is defined and certified by the college/university from which the applicant graduated.
- Secure full-time employment for the 2018-19 school year in a designated shortage area at a school district, area education agency, charter school, or accredited nonpublic school recognized and approved by the Iowa Department of Education.
- Have an Iowa teaching license and the corresponding endorsement of the shortage area in which the applicant teaches.
- Teaching assignment code must be an eligible BEDS code.
Teachers with the following license types will be considered for TIS awards:
- Initial
- Standard
- Master Educators
- Class E
- Administrative Decision
- Regional Exchange
- Class B/Conditional
- Initial Professional Service
- Professional Service
The teacher's license must have the required endorsement corresponding to the shortage area in which they teach. (See the Foundation website for chart with Required Endorsement Numbers.)
Funding is limited for the 2018-19 school year. As a result, awards will be granted according to the following priority:
- Teachers from all prior years renewing their TIS award
- Teachers who graduated from a teacher preparation program during the 2017-18 school year and who are working full-time in 2018-19, in shortage areas. If all teachers in category 2 can't be funded, teachers will be ranked according to: Shortage area in which they teach; Iowa resident status; and date of application.
Applications for the 2018-19 academic year are currently being accepted online.
Application deadline: November 16, 2018
The $4,000 award can be disbursed in one of two ways:
- Sent to the applicant's lender as a lump-sum payment toward the applicant's outstanding federal student loan balance, or
- Sent as a lump-sum payment directly to the applicant. Payments issued to individuals are considered taxable income and the State of Iowa will issue a 1099 MISC for tax filing purposes. (Applicants trying to qualify for any other loan forgiveness program may wish to consider the Pay Me option.)
Before starting your grant application, please review the funding source's website listed below for updates/changes/addendums/conferences/LOIs.
To apply online: https://apps.iowacollegeaid.gov/tis/tis_application.asp
Iowa College Aid
Iowa College Student Aid Commission
475 SW Fifth St., Suite D
Des Moines, IA 50309
Phone: (515) 725-3400
Phone: (877) 272-4456, option 3
Fax: (515) 725-3401
grants@iowacollegeaid.gov
USA: Iowa
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