AACTE to Participate in Department of Education Webinar
On August 31, AACTE representatives will participate in a webinar sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education (register here). Officially titled, “Helping Teachers Afford Comprehensive Pathways into the Profession and Achieve Loan Forgiveness,” the webinar will discuss TEACH Grants and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) programs, valuable tools to help attract and retain individuals interested in pursuing a career in education.
Student loan borrowers have long been stifled by the loans they take out to pay for college, preventing them from planning for retirement, buying a home, starting a family and/or achieving other life milestones; in addition, excessive debt is one of the reasons given for why educators leave the profession.
In response, Congress created financial aid programs to help student candidates pursue their teaching degree, including the TEACH Grant, which provides grants of up to $4,000 a year to students who are completing or plan to complete course work needed to begin a career in teaching. The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program was created in 2007 to attract well-educated individuals with careers in the public sector, including teachers, counselors, and other educators. However, neither program is utilized to its fullest extent.
To benefit from these programs, it is important to meet each their criteria, which can be confusing, particularly since the Department of Education waived some provisions in response to COVID. This webinar will help explain the benefits of each program.
The webinar’s panelists include
- Representative from the Federal Student Aid
- Representative from American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education
- Representative from American Federation of Teachers
- Representative from National Education Association
- Others TBD
Register now for the August 31 webinar.
Tags: events, shortage, teacher quality
