Teaching Scholarships

Apply for teaching scholarships for college for 2025. If you are interested in becoming a teacher, there are many scholarships, grants and even loan forgiveness programs that might work for you. See advice about student loans for teachers from other teachers.

Scholarships for Teachers

TEACH Grants

Application Deadline deadline not specified

Award Amount $4000 grant per year; recipients must teach 4 years at high need field for low-income students for each year of grant money, otherwise it converts to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford loan.

Earn a TEACH grant from the Department of Education for undergraduate and graduate students interested in education and teaching in a high-need field at a school serving low income students. Applicants must score above the 75th percentile for college admission tests or maintain a GPA of 3.25 or higher to qualify. Current areas of need include bilingual education, English education, foreign language, mathematics, reading specialist, science and special ed. For more information about TEACH Grants and to apply online see studentaid.gov.

---

TELACU Teaching Scholarships

Application Deadline March of each year

Award Amount $1000 per year, up to 4 years

These teaching scholarships are offered to Latino students from California, Texas, Illinois and New York who are interested in teaching. They must be a first-generation college student, from a low-income family and have a GPA of 2.5 or greater. For additional requirements about these Latino Scholarships for Teachers and the online application see www.telacu.com

---

UCT Teaching Scholarship Program

Application Deadline Applications may be submitted at any time

Award Amount $2500 per year, renewable for 3 years

These scholarships for teachers are open to those who are teaching or planning to teach people with intellectual disabilities. Applicants may be current teachers of students with intellectual disabilities who need additional course work, experienced teachers who wish to become certified, graduate students, college juniors or seniors or other focused on teaching those with intellectual disabilities in the US or Canada. For additional requirements about Intellectual Disabilities Scholarships for Teachers see www.uct.org

Braintrack Teaching Scholarships

Application Deadline No longer offered

Award Amount $500 - $1000

Note: These Braintrack scholarships are no longer offered. These teaching scholarships were open to students working on an undergraduate degree in education, from kindergarten through grade 12. Applicants must have completed at least one semester of study. Essay required about their desire for teaching.

---

Brown Foundation Teacher Quest Scholarship

Application Deadline ~ March of each year

Award Amount $1000 per year, for 2 years (multiple awards)

This scholarship for teachers is available for undergraduates and graduates students of color who are enrolled in an accredited teaching program. GPA of 3.0 or higher and essay required on how Brown v. Board of Education has influenced their own life experiences. For additional requirements and scholarship information for this Minority Teacher Scholarship see brownvboard.org

---

Elementary and Secondary Teacher Education Scholarship

Application Deadline ~ April of each year

Award Amount $1500 (multiple awards)

This scholarship for teachers is open to students who are 25 years of age and older who are at least in their sophomore year of college. They must have a GPA of 3.5 or higher and be sponsored by a local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Academic excellence, commitment to education and financial need are requirements. For additional requirements and scholarship information (Edward G. and Helen A. Borgens Elementary and Secondary Teacher Scholarships) see dar.org

Stanley McFarland Teaching Scholarships

Application Deadline varies

Award Amount $2500

These teaching scholarships are sponsored by the National Association of Federal Education Program Administrators. These scholarships are open to high school seniors and college freshmen who are interested in a degree in education. They must be nominated by their state affiliate of the sponsoring organization. Essay, extracurricular activities and financial need are part of the requirements. For more information see www.nafepa.org

---

Journalism Education Association Future Teacher Scholarship

Application Deadline ~ October of each year

Award Amount $1000 per year (multiple awards)

This scholarship for teachers is open to upper-division and master’s degree student preparing to teach journalism at the secondary school level. Current journalism teachers are also eligible to apply. Essay and college transcripts required. For additional requirements and scholarship information see www.jea.org

---

STEM Teachers Scholarship

Application Deadline ~ May of each year

Award Amount $2500 (multiple awards)

These teaching scholarships are open to undergraduate and graduate students who are preparing for a career as a teacher of science and mathematics. It is open to college juniors, seniors and graduate students in the US who plan to teach science, information technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) at a middle or secondary school. GPA 3.0 or higher. Financial need is not required as this is a merit-based scholarship. For additional STEM Teachers Scholarship requirements and scholarship information see www.afcea.org

---

MY STUDENT LOAN IS MY WORST NIGHT-Mare!

Student loans for teachers can be a challenge, unless you get some student loan debt forgiveness.  Ms. Bobbie from Florida shares her story:

I took out a Student Loan 27 years ago to complete some classes and to renew my State Teaching Certificate. I only borrowed $3,000 for the Tuition and Fees at the Graduate School. I did very well in the classes but I did not handle my business well and as a result 2 consequences occurred

(1) - The classes and grades were sent out to cover my certification. But I was never allowed to send for my transcripts again...in that...I was unable to repay the loan of $3,000 as scheduled.

(2) - This highly affected my future career as those 15 graduate credits never were verified by my Graduate University because of my debt.

Later, as my finances became better, I set up a payment schedule with the Department of Education. Then, subsequent to my separation from my husband and as a single parent of 2 small children, money became very, very tight.

I continued to teach Mathematics at the high school and I enjoyed every minute of it; but, each month I failed to realize that the missed payments would come back to “haunt me.”

Then, I noticed a pattern. It became apparent to me that each time I called the Loan Holder and made a few payments I would later get a NEW CONTRACT with a NEW LOAN HOLDER ( In other words, my Loan was sold to another company!). I would get a NEW CONTRACT in the mail from a NEW Loan Holder who had purchase my Student Loan.

To the best of my knowledge—I recall my Student Loan of $3,000 was sold over 15 times and when I finally realized why my payments did not appear to matter—at all. The total Balance of the Student Loan was constantly going up. I decided, immediately, to recheck the paperwork that I had stored from the various companies. I discovered a very, sad business process was taking place. Each time my Student Loan Principal was sold, the new company added the old interest and fees to the principal, and the total became the NEW PRINCIPAL!!

FOR EXAMPLE

My OLD BALANCE, including principal, interest and fees was $3,444. And the fees and interest were $301. The new company then used this total as the principal of my load and continued to add more fees and interest each month. Thus...$3,444 became $3,745 due under the new company!!!

I struggled to repay my Student Loan. And, when I couldn't pay I often called and sometimes reset my payment schedule to try to continue any payments. And each year I filed my taxes, my refund was credited to my Student Loan. So, after borrowing $3,000 to go to graduate school...I now have a balance of over $7,000 ($7000+) still after 27 years!!!

I am now 65+. I have retired from teaching Mathematics and I am presently drawing my Social Security. An amount of 15% is being deducted each month from my Social Security Check. After 27 years, my loan balance is still over 200% of the original.

My Advice To Other Students...

(1) Please try NOT to take out a Student Loan unless you truly believe you will be able to repay it within a few years of leaving School. Make this form of financial aid...you LAST RESORT!!

(2) Search for Scholarships and Grants which DO NOT have to be REPAID!

(3) If you MUST take out a student Loan....Please search for career locations which offer some reimbursement for your services.

(4) If you have taken a Student Loan, try to pay off the entire amount within the first 3 years of your career.

Finally,

FIND A WAY TO REPAY THE STUDENT LOAN...AFTER 5 YEARS even if you have to take out a Private Loan from your Bank, etc. !!!

MY STUDENT LOAN IS MY WORST NIGHT-Mare!

Try to avoid taking a Student Loan!

---

Forever Investments

Teaching loan personal experience shared by  Julie from Iowa

It keeps going, and going, and going… This theme comes to mind when I think about the debt I have accrued in my quest for educational advancement. Since 1996, I have earned a BA in elementary education, an MA in educational technology, and an MA in k-12 school counseling; including additional endorsements to become a middle school generalist and to teach high school Spanish. Needless to say, these experiences have helped to shape me into the school counselor I am today, but also have created a large amount of educational debt.

As part of my exit requirements for my undergraduate degree I had to attend the student loan repayment meeting that everyone else attended. I remember sitting in the meeting scared out my wits as I looked at the debt that I accrued and wondering how I would repay this debt. It was at that meeting that I also learned of “loan percentage rates”. As if I wasn’t frustrated enough, now I find out that I would be repaying thousands of dollars I never even spent. The advice of the counselor that day was to pay a little more than the monthly payment to help knock the cost off of the back end of the loan. That was the best financial advice I have ever received.

In all, my education has a personal price tag of $100,000. Due to the rising loan percentage rates, it seemed like my student loan kept getting bigger and my payments would never end. And then about 5 years ago, I made it my number one goal to pay this amount off as soon as possible, especially since my loans have been purchased by the government and have a 6.8% rate on them. I took the advice I received on that spring day in 2000 and have put it into practice. Now that I am just around the corner from making my last loan payment, the amount that has kept going and going each month OUT of my paycheck will soon be mine.

As a school counselor, I feel it is my duty to explain my student loan experience and assist students in the borrowing process, just as the college loan counselor did for me. Loans are definitely different now than they were when I took out my first loan in 1996, but money conservation practices are much the same. I am fortunate to get to tell my story from a financially successful point of view. The process was long and I had to make many financial sacrifices along the way, however I would do it again all the same. As my grandma always told me, “You can never put a price tag on education. It is something that will stay with you forever.” It is my hope that this mentality keeps going, and going, and going…

---

More Teaching Scholarships Info

You may also qualify for other types of scholarships and financial aid, that can be applied to a teaching career. Check out some information below.

College Financing

Money Tips for College Students

College Admissions Help

Scholarship Money for College

College Loans for Students

Student Jobs

Home › Scholarships › Teaching Scholarships