Glossary Terms explain meaning of terms used on this website and in the Financial Aid industry. If you know what you're looking for just scroll down to the terms that interests you. In case you are
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Tax Refund Offset
A program that allows the government to take your income tax refund if you are in default on a federal student loan. A number of states also have laws that authorize state guaranty agencies to take state income tax refunds.
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Tax Relief Act of 1997
Recent tax law changes benefiting students and their parents who are paying for college.
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Taxable Income
Income earned from wages, salaries, and tips, as well as interest income, dividend income, business or farm profits, and rental or property income.
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TEACH Grant Certification
TEACH Grant certification is required on an annual basis from Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant (TEACH Grant) recipients unless recipients receive a TEACH Grant for the subsequent award year, have their TEACH Grant(s) discharged, or received a temporary suspension of the period for completing the service obligation. If a TEACH Grant recipient does not satisfactorily complete the annual certification, or meet the other terms and conditions set forth in the TEACH Grant Agreement To Serve (ATS), all TEACH Grant funds received will be converted to a Direct Unsubsidized Loan that the grant recipient must repay with interest charged from the date of each TEACH Grant disbursement.The TEACH Grant Certification form for download can be seen by accessing TEACH Grant Forms on the Forms section of this web site.
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TEACH Grant Life Circumstance Tracking Suspension
An arrangement to postpone the tracking of your Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant (TEACH Grant) service obligation under certain conditions as defined by the U.S. Department of Education. You must submit a request to the TEACH Grant Program and the suspension is for a limited and specified time period that may result in your service obligation extending beyond the original eight years allowed.A complete list of all the eligibility criteria, and the form to download can be seen by accessing TEACH Grant Forms on the Forms section of this web site.
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TEACH Grant Program
Through the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007, Congress created the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program that provides grants of up to $4,000 per year to students who intend to teach in a public or private elementary or secondary school that serves students from low-income families. If you are interested in learning more about the TEACH Grant Program, you should contact the financial aid office at the college where you will be enrolled starting with the 2008-2009 school year. The first TEACH Grants will be awarded to eligible students for the 2008-2009 school year.
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TEACH Grant Service Obligation Period
The period that begins after a Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant (TEACH Grant) recipient completes or otherwise ceases enrollment in a TEACH Grant eligible program for which he or she received TEACH Grant funds.
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TEACH Grant Service Obligation Satisfied
For each Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant (TEACH Grant) eligible program for which a student received TEACH Grant funds, the grant recipient must complete a TEACH Grant service obligation by teaching as a full-time, highly qualified teacher at a school serving low-income students in a high-need field for at least four years within eight years after the recipient completes or ceases to be enrolled in the program for which the TEACH Grant was received.
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Teacher
For purposes of the TEACH Grant Program, a teacher is a person who provides direct classroom teaching or classroom -type teaching in a non-classroom setting, including special education teachers and reading specialists.
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Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program
The Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program is intended to encourage individuals to enter and remain in the teaching profession. The program grants loan forgiveness of up to $17,500 for teachers in certain specialties and up to $5,000 for other teachers, who teach for five years in certain low-income schools and meet other requirements. This forgiveness benefit is available to Direct Loan and Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program borrowers who did not have an outstanding balance on a Direct Loan or FFEL Program loan on October 1, 1998, or on the date they obtained a Direct Loan or FFEL program loan after October 1, 1998.
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Teaching Assistantship (TA)
A form of financial aid awarded to graduate students to help support their education. Teaching assistantships usually provide the graduate student with a waiver of all or part of tuition, plus a small stipend for living expenses. As the name implies, a TA is required to perform teaching-related duties.
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Temporary Suspension of Service Obligation
An arrangement to postpone the tracking of your TEACH Grant service fulfillment period under certain conditions as defined by the federal government; you must submit an application to the Direct Loan Servicing Center and the suspension is for a limited and specified time period that may result in your service period extending beyond the original eight years allowed.
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Term
The number of years (or months) during which the loan is to be repaid.
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Test Of English As A Foreign Language (TOEFL)
Most colleges and universities require international students to take the TOEFL as part of their application for admission. The TOEFL evaluates a student's ability to communicate in and understand English.
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The Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Plan
Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Plan bases your monthly payment on your yearly income and you must have a partial financial hardship to enroll. This plan is an alternative to the Income Contingent Repayment (ICR) Plan and is designed to make repaying education loans easier for students who intend to pursue jobs with lower salaries, such as careers in public service. It does this by capping the monthly payments at a percentage of your discretionary income (the difference between your Adjusted Gross Income and 150% of the poverty guideline for your family size and state of residence). If you are married AND file taxes separately, only your income will be considered when calculating your IBR payment amount. Like ICR, after 25 years of qualifying repayment, any remaining balance on the loan will be forgiven, but you may have to pay taxes on the amount forgiven.The IBR Plan is NOT available for repayment of your Direct PLUS Loan(s) made to parent borrowers and/or Direct Consolidation Loan(s) that repaid PLUS Loans made to parent borrowers. If you have these loan types, you must repay them under another eligible repayment plan, even if you select IBR for your other Direct Loan(s).To participate in the IBR Plan, you must authorize the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to inform the U.S.Department of Education (ED) of the amount of your income.
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