The purpose of the program is to recruit and retain certified classroom teachers in fields and communities having a shortage of teachers in Texas.

The state budget shortfall presented extraordinary challenges for the 82^nd Texas Legislature, resulting in the elimination of funding for many programs and significant cuts to others. The Teacher Education Loan Repayment Program, funded at approximately $11.5 million for the 2010-2011 two-year budget period, was funded at $1 million for the 2012-2013 budget period, representing a 91% decrease in funding.

Therefore, during the current two-year budget period, no new participants will be accepted into the program and there will not be sufficient funding for all eligible teachers who previously received loan repayment awards. To leverage the reduced funding in the most effective manner and within the statutory requirements, the maximum award amount for each year of the 2012-2013 budget period will be $2,500. Additionally, the criteria stated below, in order of priority, will be applied in ranking renewal applications from teachers who received funds based on teaching service for the 2010-2011 academic year and who, for the 2012-2013 academic year are teaching:

  1) one of the five designated shortage subjects AND are teaching at a campus whose students receiving reduced and free lunches comprise 75% or more of the student population at the campus

  2) any subject at a campus whose students receiving reduced and free lunches comprise 75% or more of the student population at the campus

 3) one of the five designated shortage subjects AND are teaching at a campus whose students receiving reduced and free lunches comprise more than 51.197% (the current statewide average) of the student population at the campus

Note: The federal Title I designation is not used to determine campus eligibility for this program. Shortage campus designation is determined annually based on information provided by Texas Education Agency. 

The following is a link to the list of the campuses having the most critical shortages: http://www.hhloans.com/apps/shortage.cfm

Designated Shortage Fields for 2012-2013

Bilingual Education/ESL            Foreign Languages

Mathematics                           Special Education

Science                                                    

For more information about the Teach for Texas Loan Repayment Assistance Program, please email us or call THECB at 1-800-242-3062 (outside Austin), or at 512-427-6340 (Austin area).