How much do Teach For America corps
members get paid?
Corps members are paid directly by the school districts for which they work and generally receive the same salaries and health benefits as other beginning teachers. While beginning teacher salaries vary by district, most corps members find that they can live comfortably regardless of their region. Corps members teaching in urban sites typically have higher salaries, ranging from $30,000 to $47,000. Corps members in rural sites, who make between $27,000 and $45,000, tend to have more discretionary income because the cost of living is disproportionately lower in these sites. For this reason, many corps members in rural regions complete their two-year commitments with substantial savings. Learn how a starting teacher's salary compares to salaries for other entry level jobs, and read about the other financial support Teach For America provides.
Does Teach For America provide financial support for
transitional costs?
Recognizing that achieving financial stability is important for everyone, Teach For America is committed to making teaching a viable option for everyone, regardless of their financial situation. Teach For America covers major expenses during the summer institute (e.g., housing, food) for all corps members and offers transitional funding awards in the form of interest-free loans and, in many cases, grants. Packages that range from approximately $1,000 - $6,000 are offered to those who apply for transitional funding and are designed to help corps members cover moving and start-up costs. Awards are based on an applicant's demonstrated need, cost of living, and other expenses associated with a corps member's assigned region. Learn more about the grants and loans corps members can receive, as well as details about corps member salaries.
Does Teach For America help with student loans
and/or future educational expenses?
Because Teach For America is currently a member of AmeriCorps, our corps members who have not served previously as AmeriCorps members are eligible for the following AmeriCorps benefits:
*While Teach For America is currently a part of AmeriCorps, we cannot guarantee these benefits for the 2009 corps given the nature of the AmeriCorps competitive grant process and the dependence on Congressional funding cycles. Teach For America anticipates receiving final confirmation on education awards for next year in spring 2009.
Learn more about qualified student loans and other financial arrangement information.
What costs does transitional funding cover?
Teach For America tries to be as exhaustive as possible in estimating the cost associated with your transition. Numerous components are considered, including but not limited to: travel to the institute and the region you will be teaching in; testing fees; upfront certification fees; health insurance; professional dress; and apartment rental. When applicable, award packages also address significant lags between the beginning of the school year and receipt of the first paycheck. Transitional funding is not designed to assist corps members with the cost of buying or leasing a car. We encourage applicants who do not have a car and cannot afford to purchase one to consider regions where access to a car is not required.
How do we determine an applicant’s need?
Need is determined by looking at a wide variety of factors including but not limited to student loan and other debt; available savings; years out of school; number of dependants and if an applicant was listed as a dependant in the prior year. All of our applications take into account that our corps members will be financially independent from their parents once they begin teaching. We also may adjust awards for a wide variety of individual circumstances and we encourage applicants to provide that information in the notes section on the application. We carefully review all notes and make adjustments where needed before determining awards.
Why do we base financial award packages on “need” instead of giving all corps members equal award packages?
Given the limited amount of funds we have available, we do our best to distribute financial award packages in a way that ensures no applicant is unable to accept a position at Teach For America because of finances.
We do not have the funds to cover every corps member’s complete transition to their region and we expect that corps members use any available resources (savings, etc.) to assist in their transition in addition to financial packages that we provide.
I am not a recent college graduate. Does transitional funding still apply to me? Will my need be determined correctly?
Yes. Transitional funding is for all of our applicants with unmet need and we take into account the special circumstances of both our candidates who were legally independent in the prior year and recent college graduates. We are well aware that your needs and obligations are different from recent college graduates and we take that into account when determining your awards.
Given that the overall transitional funding budget is limited and most corps members have some available resources to help make the transition, most recipients are awarded packages that cover some, but not all, of their expected transitional costs. The exact share of those costs covered by any individual’s package is determined by his or her demonstrated financial need and the funds available to Teach For America to lend or give through our transitional funding program.
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