Aspiring Teachers to Have Easier Road to Grants

• Author: Jacob Greene
• Posted: 2024-01-17

Things have been awfully strange for teachers since the pandemic hit in America. They still had to work, though most had to learn how to use apps like Zoom and Skype for remote learning. They were still expected to work, though what was once a job with structure and facilities turned into home-based work, and many teachers were not set up for that sort of thing and it was difficult on them. Though every year there are thousands of new teachers who come along, and some have a really hard time getting there, especially during a pandemic. This is why the US Department of Education (USDOE) has made it easier for aspiring teachers to apply for and receive grants.

What sort of grants can aspiring teachers get? Through the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education grants, called "TEACH grants," students can get some much needed money to help them get through school, to pay for housing, and to cover their food and other expenses while they're en route to becoming teachers. While these grants have been available for many years, they have always been difficult to get. Most who have applied for TEACH grants have not received them.

No more, claims the USDOE, as they have very recently passed the overhauled process that streamlines and makes it much simpler for students to get these TEACH grants. This was actually something done under President Trump and actually urged along by Trump himself. Although President Joe Biden has been working very hard to undo most of the things Trump did, this is something that most agree is a good thing, and so Congress has finally pushed through the final measures to make it a reality.

Under the TEACH grants platform, students can apply to get $4,000 every year of school if their educational track is that of teaching. This is likely going to require 7 to 10 years of education, and so this money certainly comes in handy. The rule is simple for those who receive the grants. The money is yours to keep if you end up becoming a teacher, but they are federal loans if you do not and must be repaid.

As of 2019, it was found that nearly half the grants given out had become loans. As it turns out, the process for approval was so difficult that people who actually wanted to become teachers weren't applying. Half the people applying were just in need of further student loan assistance and took advantage of those loopholes. The overhaul of TEACH grants means that the focus is now on people who are more likely to become teachers, while making it much easier for future teachers to apply and receive the grants.

Should Aspiring Educators Receive Grants?

America has been in a state of perpetual polarization perhaps since its founding, where a lot of the population were satisfied under British rule. Then there was slavery, Jim Crow, huge wars, and quite a few Presidents along the way that really drew stark lines through the population. So, it's no shock here that the reviews are mixed on whether or not aspiring teachers should receive grants.

People who want this demographic to have these grants, and more if possible, claim that we're lacking good educators in America, and offering this incentive might just be the way to get better teachers to help produce better students. Opponents of this idea claim that there is nothing a grant does for an aspiring teacher except offer money to people who don't need the money. This is a hot-button issue in America, whereas other nations do these sorts of things all the time and nobody bats an eye lash.

The fact of the matter is that grants have long been available for aspiring teachers and other educators. This is nothing new at all. Yes, especially from the government, America has always tried to promote teaching. The thing standing out about this round of grants is that they come at a time where hundreds of thousands of businesses and millions of people are still hoping for Coronavirus grants that do not seem to be coming. Teachers, however, have been given a lot since the pandemic started. So, put bluntly, a lot of people are bitter, angry and jealous about the new round of grants.

They're coming, like them or not, and hopefully they will be put to good use by individuals who ultimately end up being among America's top educators.