Teachers whose federal grants turned into loans feel betrayed, NPR reports

Thousands of people who thought they had been given $4,000 a year from the federal government in exchange for promising their services to high-need classrooms now find they owe the government money.

Many teachers have had federal grants taken away and turned into loans, often for paperwork errors, according to a government report whose contents were first revealed by NPR on Wednesday.

The fund, known as the TEACH Grant, gives college students preparing to become teachers up to $4,000 each academic year. In exchange for the money, the students must agree to teach in a high-needs field for at least four years within an eight-year period.

After leaving their training programs, they must certify each year that they are either currently teaching or intend to teach. But for recipients who don’t meet the teaching requirements — or don’t inform the federal government of their plans — the grants become loans.

The U.S. Department of Education surveyed 500 TEACH Grant recipients, and found that while 89% initially expected to fulfill the teaching requirements, 63% had their grants converted to loans.

Maggie Webb, an eighth-grade teacher in Chelsea, Mass., told NPR that without any warning, her grant switched over and started accruing interest. “My $4,000 grant was now costing me $5,000,” she said.

Webb told NPR that she never received the paperwork she needed in order to tell the Education Department that she was indeed teaching. She asked for the form, she said, and submitted it on time. But FedLoan, the company contracted to administer the grants, said it had not been received.

Massachusetts’ attorney general is suing FedLoan over the problem.

In a statement to NPR, the federal Department of Education said the report shows there’s room for improvement.