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FAQ's in English
Corps and Alumni
FAQ - Finances
- How much do Teach For America corps members get paid?
- Does Teach For America help with student loans and/or future
educational expenses? - Does Teach For America provide financial support for transitional costs?
- What costs does transitional funding cover?
- I am not a recent college graduate. Am I still eligible for transitional funding?
- Does Teach For America provide access to free or subsized Master's degrees?
- How do we determine an applicant’s need?
- Why do we base financial award packages on “need” instead of giving all corps members equal award packages?
How much do Teach For America corps
members get paid?
Corps members are paid directly by the school districts for which they work and generally receive the same salaries and health benefits as other beginning teachers. Salaries range from $27,000 to 47,500, and while beginning teacher salaries vary by district, most corps members find that they can live comfortably regardless of their region. Additionally, teachers with graduate degrees receive salaries that are comparable to teachers within their districts who have the same level of education
Learn more about teacher salaries in each of our regions.
Does Teach For America help with student loans and/or future educational expenses?*
Because Teach For America is currently a member of AmeriCorps, our corps members who have not served previously as AmeriCorps members are eligible for the following AmeriCorps benefits:
- Loan forbearance (a period of time during the repayment period in which the borrower is permitted to temporarily postpone making regular monthly payments) and interest payments on qualified student loans during their two years of service.
- Loan cancellation programs through some state and federal agencies for corps members who complete their two-year teaching commitment.
- An education award of $4,725 at the end of each year of service (a total of $9,450 over the two years), which may be used toward future educational expenses or to repay qualified student loans.**
*Recent changes to the national service law, including increasing the amount of the education award and expanding the definition for qualified student loans, will likely not go into effect until the 2010-2011 school year. Corps members will be notified should these changes go into effect sooner.
**Teach For America is currently a member of AmeriCorps. Given the nature of the AmeriCorps competitive grant process and the dependence on Congressional funding cycles, we cannot guarantee these benefits for the 2010 corps until receiving final confirmation in spring 2010. Recent changes in national service laws may result in an increase to the education award for 2010-2011.
Learn more about qualified student loans and other financial arrangement information.
Does Teach For America provide financial support for transitional costs?
Teach For America covers major expenses during the summer institute (e.g., housing, food) for all corps members. Additionally, Teach For America offers awards in the form of grants (in some cases) and interest-free loans to help cover transitional expenses. Total award packages range from approximately $1,000 – $6,000 and are based on demonstrated need and costs associated with an assigned region. Awards are offered to all those who apply for transitional funding, and are designed to help cover moving and start-up costs.
What costs does transitional funding cover?
Teach For America tries to be as exhaustive as possible in estimating the cost associated with transitional expenses. Numerous components are considered, including but not limited to: travel to the institute and the region you will be teaching in; testing fees; upfront certification fees; health insurance; professional dress; and apartment rental. When applicable, award packages also address significant lags between the beginning of the school year and receipt of the first paycheck. Transitional funding is not designed to assist corps members with the cost of buying or leasing a car. We encourage applicants who do not have a car and cannot afford to purchase one to consider regions where access to a car is not required.
I am not a recent college graduate. Am I still eligible for transitional funding?
Yes, all applicants are eligible to apply for transitional funding. We recognize that applicants who have been out of school for some time have different needs and obligations than do recent graduates. We have designed our transitional funding process to be as flexible and comprehensive as possible.
Does Teach For America provide access to free or subsidized Master’s degrees?
Several of our regional offices have established partnerships with universities to facilitate corps members' work toward certification and/or master’s degrees in education. These programs vary from site to site and year to year. Some may be offered at reduced cost to corps members.
You can find more specific information on the regional site pages (certification information is located in the “In this section” box on the right of each region-specific page).
How do we determine an applicant’s need?
Need is determined by looking at a wide variety of factors including but not limited to: student loan and other debt; available savings; years out of school; number of dependants and if an applicant was listed as a dependant in the prior year. All of our applications take into account that our corps members will be financially independent once they begin teaching. We also may adjust awards for a wide variety of individual circumstances and we encourage applicants to provide any information they feel is relevant to their financial situation in the notes section on the application. We carefully review all notes and make adjustments where needed before determining awards
Why do we base financial award packages on “need” instead of giving all corps members’ equal award packages?
Given the limited amount of funds we have available, we do our best to distribute financial award packages in a way that ensures no applicant is unable to accept a position at Teach For America because of his or her financial situation.
We do not have the funds to cover every corps member’s complete transition to their region and we expect that corps members use any available resources (savings, etc.) to assist in their transition in addition to financial packages that we provide.
Given that the overall transitional funding budget is limited and most corps members have some available resources to help make the transition, most recipients are awarded packages that cover some, but not all, of their expected transitional costs. The exact share of those costs covered by any individual’s package is determined by his or her demonstrated financial need and the funds available to Teach For America to lend or give through our transitional funding program.
