Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant Program (TEACH Grant Program) Service Obligation Certification and Suspension Request Forms

TEACH Grant Service Obligation
Suspension Request:
Residing or Being Employed in a
Federally Declared Major Disaster Area

OMB No. 1845-0158
Form Approved
Exp. Date: 11/30/2026

Teacher Education Assistance for College and
Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program
WARNING: Any person who knowingly makes a false statement or misrepresentation on this form or
on any accompanying document is subject to penalties that may include fines, imprisonment, or both,
under the U.S. Criminal Code and 20 U.S.C. 1097.

Section 1: General Information and Instructions
NOTE: Throughout this form, the words “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to the U.S. Department of
Education or to your TEACH Grant servicer. The word “Agreement” refers to the Agreement to Serve
or Repay that you signed before you received your TEACH Grants.
How do I use this form?
As explained in your Agreement, you can request a suspension of the 8-year period for completing
your TEACH Grant service obligation if you are temporarily unable to teach due to certain qualifying
conditions. You may use this form to request a suspension of the 8-year period for completing your
service obligation if you are temporarily unable to teach because you are residing in or are employed
in a federally declared major disaster area. See Section 7 of the form for specific eligibility
requirements.
How do I complete the form?
•

Before you begin, carefully read the entire form. Print using dark ink.

•

Your name, address, and other information may be preprinted in Section 2. If any of this
information is not shown, or if any of the preprinted information is incorrect, enter or correct the
information on the right side of Section 2. If any of your information has changed since the last
time you reported it to us, check the box in Section 2 to indicate this.

•

Complete Section 3. Check the box or boxes to identify the condition that qualifies you for a
temporary suspension of the 8-year period for completing your TEACH Grant service
obligation, and for each box that you check enter the location of the federally-declared major
disaster area where you are/were residing or are/were employed.

•

Complete Section 4:
•

Enter the beginning and ending dates (month and year only) of the school year for which
you are requesting a suspension of the 8-year service obligation period. For example, if you

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are requesting a suspension to cover a school year that begins in August 2024 and ends in
June 2025, you would enter “08/2024” as the beginning date and “06/2025” as the ending
date.
Sign and date the form. Enter the date as month-day-year. For example, if you signed the
form on August 25, 2024, you would enter “08/25/2024”.

•

Section 2: Grant Recipient Information
See the instructions on page 1 and 2.
Social Security Number (SSN):
Name:
Address:
City:

State:

Zip Code:

Telephone:
Telephone (Alternate):
Email (optional):
Check this box if you are changing any preprinted information.

Section 3: Documentation of Your Qualifying Suspension Reason
Check the appropriate box or boxes to identify the condition that qualifies you for a temporary
suspension of the 8-year period for completing your TEACH Grant service obligation and for each box
that you check enter the location (county or other designated area) of the federally-declared major
disaster area where you are/were residing or are/were employed. You can search for federally
declared major disasters at https://www.fema.gov/disasters/.
I am/was residing in the following federally declared major disaster area:
I am/was employed in the following federally declared major disaster area:

Section 4: Your Suspension Request, Understandings, and Certifications
I request that the U.S. Department of Education (ED) grant a temporary suspension of the period for
completing my TEACH Grant service obligation during the full elementary or secondary school
year beginning (mm/yyyy)
and ending (mm/yyyy)
I
am/was unable to teach during this school year for the reason I indicated in Section 3.

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Grant Recipient’s Name:

Grant Recipient’s SSN:

I understand that:
1. If I qualify for a suspension, I will receive a suspension for a consecutive 12-month period. If I
continue to qualify for a suspension at the end of one suspension period, I may reapply for
another 12-month suspension, but I may not receive a total of more than 3 years of suspension
based on residing in or being employed in a federally declared major disaster area.
2. My TEACH Grant servicer must receive my suspension request before my TEACH Grants are
converted to Direct Unsubsidized Loans. As explained in my Agreement, my TEACH Grants will
be converted to Direct Unsubsidized Loans if I do not begin teaching or do not continue to perform
qualifying teaching service within a timeframe that would allow me to complete my required 4
years of teaching within my 8-year service obligation period.
3. ED will not approve my suspension request unless this form is complete and I have provided any
required documentation.
I certify that (1) the information I have provided on this form is true and correct; (2) I have read,
understand, and meet the eligibility requirements of the suspension that I have requested, as
explained in Sections 3 and 7; and (3) upon request, I will provide additional documentation to my
TEACH Grant servicer to support my suspension request.
Grant Recipient’s Signature:

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Date (mm/dd/yyyy):

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Please omit pages 4–7 when mailing or faxing back.

Section 5: Make sure that all sections are complete, then send us the completed
form by one of the following means:
•

•

Mail the form and any required documentation to the following address:
Federal Student Aid Programs - TEACH
P.O. Box 300010
Greenville, TX 75403
Fax the form to 540-212-2415.

Section 6: Who can I contact if I have questions?
If you need help completing this form, contact 1-800-4-FED-AID.

Section 7: Suspension Eligibility Requirements, Definitions, and Maximum
Suspension Period
Suspension eligibility requirements
You may qualify for a temporary suspension of the 8-year period for completing your TEACH Grant
service obligation if you are/were temporarily unable to teach because you are/were residing in or
are/were employed in a federally declared major disaster area as defined in the Robert T. Stafford
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122(2)). If you qualify for a suspension,
your TEACH Grant servicer must receive your suspension request before your TEACH Grants are
converted to Direct Unsubsidized Loans. Refer to your Agreement or contact us (see "Who can I
contact if I have questions?" on page 2) for more information about the conditions under which your
TEACH Grants may be converted to loans.

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Definitions
A federally declared major disaster is any natural catastrophe (including a hurricane, tornado,
storm, high water, wind-driven water, tidal wave, tsunami, earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide,
mudslide, snowstorm, drought, or health emergency), or, regardless of cause, any fire, flood, or
explosion, in any part of the United States, which in the determination of the President causes
damage of sufficient severity and magnitude to warrant major disaster assistance under the Robert T.
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to supplement the efforts and available
resources of States, local governments, and disaster relief organizations in alleviating the damage,
loss, hardship, or suffering caused by the natural catastrophe, fire, flood, or explosion. You can
search for federally declared major disasters at https://www.fema.gov/disasters/.
United States means the fifty States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam,
American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
State means any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands,
Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Maximum suspension period
If you meet the requirements described in this section, you will receive a temporary suspension of the
8-year period for completing your TEACH Grant service obligation for a consecutive 12-month period
covering the school year during which you are temporarily unable to teach. If you continue to qualify
for a suspension at the end of one suspension period, you may reapply for another 12-month
suspension. However, there is a maximum 3-year limit on the period of time for which you may
receive a suspension of the 8-year service obligation period based on residing in or being employed
in a federally declared major disaster area.

Section 8: Important Notices
Privacy Act Notice
The Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a) requires that the following notice be provided to you:
The authorities for collecting the requested information from and about you are §420L et seq. and
§451 et seq. of the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965, as amended (20 U.S.C. 1070g et seq. and
20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.) and the authorities for collecting and using your social security number
(SSN) are §484(a)(4) of the HEA (20 U.S.C. 1091(a)(4)) and §31001(i)(1) of the Debt Collection
Improvement Act of 1996 (31 U.S.C. 7701(c)). Participating in the Teacher Education Assistance for
College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program and/or the William D. Ford Federal Direct
Loan (Direct Loan) Program and giving us your SSN are voluntary, but you must provide the
requested information, including your SSN, to participate.

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The principal purposes for collecting the information on this form, including your SSN, are to verify
your identity, to determine your eligibility to receive a TEACH Grant, and, if a TEACH Grant that you
receive is converted to a Direct Unsubsidized Loan, to determine your eligibility to receive a benefit
on the loan (such as deferment, forbearance, discharge, or forgiveness), to permit the servicing of
your loan(s), and, if it becomes necessary, to locate you and to collect and report on your loan(s) if
your loan(s) become delinquent or in default. We also use your SSN as an account identifier and to
permit you to access your account information electronically.
The information in your file may be disclosed, on a case-by-case basis or under a computer matching
program, to third parties as authorized under routine uses in the appropriate systems of records
notices.
The routine uses of the information that we collect about you, if your TEACH Grant has not been
converted to a Direct Unsubsidized Loan, include, but are not limited to, its disclosure to federal,
state, or local agencies, to institutions of higher education, and to third party servicers to determine
your eligibility to receive a TEACH Grant, to investigate possible fraud, and to verify compliance with
federal student financial aid program regulations.
In the event of litigation, we may send records to the Department of Justice, a court, adjudicative
body, counsel, party, or witness if the disclosure is relevant and necessary to the litigation. If this
information, either alone or with other information, indicates a potential violation of law, we may send
it to the appropriate authority for action. We may send information to members of Congress if you ask
them to help you with federal student aid questions. In circumstances involving employment
complaints, grievances, or disciplinary actions, we may disclose relevant records to adjudicate or
investigate the issues. If provided for by a collective bargaining agreement, we may disclose records
to a labor organization recognized under 5 U.S.C. Chapter 71. Disclosures may be made to our
contractors for the purpose of performing any programmatic function that requires disclosure of
records. Before making any such disclosure, we will require the contractor to maintain Privacy Act
safeguards. Disclosures may also be made to qualified researchers under Privacy Act safeguards.
If your TEACH Grant has been converted to a Direct Unsubsidized Loan, the routine uses of this
information also include, but are not limited to, its disclosure to federal, state, or local agencies, to
private parties such as relatives, present and former employers, business and personal associates, to
creditors, to financial and educational institutions, and to guaranty agencies to verify your identity, to
determine your program eligibility and benefits, to permit making, servicing, assigning, collecting,
adjusting or discharging your loan(s), to enforce the terms of the loan(s), to investigate possible fraud
and to verify compliance with federal student financial aid program regulations, to locate you if you
become delinquent in your loan payments or if you default, or to verify whether your debt qualifies for
discharge or cancellation. To provide default rate calculations, disclosures may be made to guaranty
agencies, to financial and educational institutions, or to federal, state or local agencies. To provide
financial aid history information, disclosures may be made to educational institutions. To assist

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program administrators with tracking refunds and cancellations, disclosures may be made to guaranty
agencies, to financial and educational institutions, or to federal or state agencies.
To provide a standardized method for educational institutions to efficiently submit student enrollment
status, disclosures may be made to guaranty agencies or to financial and educational institutions. To
counsel you in repayment efforts, disclosures may be made to guaranty agencies, to financial and
educational institutions, or to federal, state, or local agencies.
Paperwork Reduction Notice
According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection
of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number
for this information collection is 1845-0158. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is
estimated to average 20 minutes (0.33 hours) per response, including time for reviewing instructions,
searching existing data resources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and
reviewing the collection of information. The obligation to respond to this collection is required to obtain
a benefit in accordance with 34 CFR 686.41(b).
If you have comments or concerns regarding the status of your individual submission of this form,
write to:
Federal Student Aid Programs - TEACH
P.O. Box 300010
Greenville, TX 75403

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