Your Loved One is Joining to Teach For America
Teach For America is a selective, two-year teaching and leadership development program that places college graduates and professionals in under-resourced schools across America. As teachers, they will work alongside communities to expand educational opportunity while developing the skills, mindsets, and networks to drive systemic change throughout their careers.
A corps member is what we call our teachers during their first two years of our program. During those two years, they will be a classroom teacher.
A TFA corps member works as a full-time, salaried teacher in a public school classroom. They are responsible for planning lessons, delivering instruction, and supporting their students' academic and personal growth while working collaboratively with school staff, families, and community members.
Beyond teaching, a corps member participates in TFA's comprehensive leadership development program—consisting of ongoing coaching, professional development sessions, and collaboration with a cohort of peer educators.
As full-time employees of their schools, corps members participate in the professional development, mentorship, and management practices available to all other educators in their placement school. In addition, Teach For America prepares corps member for their first day of school by providing:
Summer training includes:
- Virtual and live learning experiences rooted in Teach For America foundations that will prepare them for the school year.
- The opportunity to teach summer school in the same community they'll teach in during the school year.
- One-on-one and group coaching experiences
Ongoing support and development including:
- Equity-driven teaching and learning summits four times per year
- Instructional coaching services
- Online resources and trainings
- Other supports such as local alumni networks, placement school resources, university partnerships, identity-based resource groups, and more
Students taught by Teach For America teachers are learning and achieving at the same or even better rates than students taught by non-Teach For America teachers in the same schools. Several evaluation studies, including randomized controlled trials, have found these results. The research also shows that Teach For America’s impact extends to other areas that are crucial to achieving educational equity, including diversifying our educator workforce and deepening educators’ understanding of systemic injustice. Explore Teach For America’s impact on students.
In a survey of principals who work with TFA corps members, 98% reported satisfaction with corps members.
Yes, corps members make a commitment to teach for a minimum of two years. Many choose to stay longer. Our commitment to our corps member extends beyond their first two years in the classroom. Whether they choose to stay in education or seek new opportunities in other industries, we provide support for their growth and development.
The Teach For America application process includes an online application designed to gather all the candidate's qualifications. Applicants who make it to the next round will be asked to schedule a virtual interview.
The online application consists of:
- Basic personal information
- Reflections on applicant’s interest in joining TFA and their leadership experience
- Required documents—resume and school history
The virtual interview consists of:
- Delivering a 5-minute sample teaching lesson
- Sharing the case study on racial disparities
- Answering questions about their experiences and attributes
We recruit exceptional, diverse, and action-oriented leaders early in their careers. These leaders demonstrate the values, mindsets, and experiences necessary to have an outsized, positive impact on student learning and personal growth. Fewer than a quarter of applicants are admitted to Teach For America.
Our teachers are employed and paid by the district or public charter network where they teach and receive the same salary and benefits as other first-year teachers. We place teachers in nearly 40 regions across the country. Depending on the region, first-year TFA teachers make between $33,000 - $68,000 per school year. Teach For America offers additional financial support with a value of approximately $14,000-$30,000 over two years, depending on region and eligibility. Explore TFA salaries by region.
Benefits from the district or public charter network include health insurance, retirement, and vacation benefits.
Yes. In addition to the salary earned from a Teach For America partner school, TFA offers additional financial support for corps members with a value of $14,000-$30,000 over two years, based on region and eligibility.
Transitional Support Stipends
- Baseline Regional Stipends are designed to help corps members cover two months of housing along with initial test registration costs. The Baseline Regional Stipend ranges in amount depending on region
- All Pell Grant recipients and EAD holders also qualify for an additional Pell/EAD Stipend of $3,000 on top of their Baseline Regional Stipend, regardless of region.
Need-Based Support
- Incoming corps members with additional financial need may apply for Need-Based Transitional Support to supplement their Transitional Support Stipends. These packages of grants and no-interest loans are based on demonstrated need, regional cost of living, and Transitional Support Stipend amount. All need-based applicants will be offered an interest-free loan; applicants with the highest need may also be offered a grant. Incoming corps members can apply through the applicant center. Get an overview of need-based support.
AmeriCorps Award
- Corps members who join AmeriCorps may be eligible for additional funding to help pay off student loans or put toward certification costs. The AmeriCorps award is distributed after each year of membership. The current AmeriCorps award is $7,395. Read more about TFA’s partnership with AmeriCorps.
Supplemental Supports
- Individual regions may also have additional supports such as affordable housing partnerships, or districts with signing bonuses.
New corps members have the option to apply directly to up to three (out of nearly 40) regions where they want to teach or to indicate they would go to the area of greatest need. They will only be placed in a region they have selected.
Whether or not that means they are moving away or staying where they currently are, we provide them with Transitional Support Stipends.
After their two-year commitment, corps members join a powerful network of 65,000+ alumni who pursue diverse career paths—school leadership, nonprofit, policy, business, and other sectors. As they continue to work toward educational equity in their chosen fields, we help connect them with opportunities and resources to grow professionally.
TFA provides ongoing career support through our career center, offering resources, job connections, mentorship, and talent matching services to help alumni transition professionally. Some of those benefits include:
- Partnerships with graduate schools and employers around the country, including deferrals, scholarships, fee waivers, internships, and more
- A career and networking website, exclusively available for members of our network, which includes a robust job board and the opportunity to connect directly with hiring managers
- Skill-building and fellowship opportunities intended to accelerate impact in school leadership, social entrepreneurship, elected leadership, and more
- Membership in Leadership for Educational Equity, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that inspires and supports leaders with classroom experience to engage civically and politically
- A diverse and supportive network of alumni and staff, all working together in pursuit of educational equity
Teacher burnout and mental health is a very real challenge in this profession. As an organization, we are committed to the wellness of our teachers and to helping make teaching a more sustainable career.
In our work with corps members, we use the 8 Dimensions of Wellness which highlight the multi-faceted and interdependent nature of wellness and include emotional, financial, social, spiritual, occupational, physical, intellectual, and environmental wellness. Some examples include:
- Financial supports, including additional needs-based and emergency supports, to help new corps members make the transition to the classroom
- Intentional experiences in peer cohorts to help corps members feel connected and part of a thriving, supportive community of peers and mentors.
- Training our teachers to create an environment for positive social emotional learning for their students while balancing their own needs (which helps them be a better support to their students)
- Regions may have additional ways that they are supporting their teacher’s mental health, including regional mental health and wellness guides
- AmeriCorps members have access to mental health services through the AmeriCorps Member Assistance Program
Finally, our child-centered public policy agenda as an organization is derived from what we learn from our educators is most essential. Student and teacher wellness is at the top of that list right now.
Education is the most powerful and transformational lever we have to transform our society. Joining TFA gives corps members the opportunity to make both an immediate impact on individual children’s lives and be part of a movement for social justice more broadly. Our alumni also find the experience deeply develops them as leaders, accelerates their careers, and connects them to a driven, diverse, and equity-focused network leaders.