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Help With Student Loans Available for Qualifying Teachers


  Help With Student Loans Available for Qualifying Teachers

Application for second year now online

Contact: Sandy Connolly, Director of Communications
Office of Higher Education
(651) 259-3902

St. Paul, MN - The application is now available for the second year of student loan repayment assistance for teachers working in designated teacher shortage areas in Minnesota.

The Minnesota Teacher Shortage Student Loan Repayment Program, signed into law by Governor Dayton in 2015, is intended to encourage teachers to teach in designated shortage areas by providing assistance with their student loan repayment. Over 700 teachers from across the state received an award during the first year of the program. First year recipients were licensed in subject areas such as Developmental Disabilities, Early Childhood Special Education, Mathematics, and Social Studies. The 2017 application is now available online.

"Minnesota schools are challenged to find the teachers they need, both in certain geographic areas and for subjects such as math, science and special education," said Commissioner Larry Pogemiller, Minnesota Office of Higher Education (OHE), which manages the program. "This program aims to help meet that challenge by providing teachers some assistance with their student debt."

Qualifying teachers who apply by June 30, 2017, may be eligible for repayment assistance of up to $1,000 per year, up to a total of $5,000. It is anticipated that approximately 1,100 awards could be available in the coming year.

In general, applicants must currently:

  • Hold a teaching license issued by the licensing division in the Minnesota Department of Education on behalf of the Board of Teaching
  • Be employed by a school district to provide classroom instruction
  • Teach in a designated teacher shortage area; and
  • Have outstanding qualified educational loan debt.

The list of qualifying shortage areas identified by the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) as well as answers to other common questions can be found here.

More information about the program. The application form is online here.

For more information about the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program, contact the Minnesota Office of Higher Education: 651-642-0567, 1-800-657-3866, or info.ohe@state.mn.us.


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