MN Student Teacher Grants

The Minnesota Student Teacher Grants provide postsecondary financial assistance to eligible students enrolled in Minnesota (MN) teacher preparation programs during one term in which the student is completing a required 12-week or more student teaching experience. 

Who is eligible?

In general, applicants must:

• Be enrolled in an eligible MN college or university in an eligible teacher preparation program that requires at least 12 weeks of student teaching in order for the teacher candidate to be recommended for a full professional teaching license;
• Must be completing an eligible student teaching experience in the term applying to receive the grant
• Be meeting Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements as defined by the University of St. Thomas;
• Complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or Minnesota Dream Act application for the aid year; and
• Demonstrate financial need.
• Meet one or more of the following requirements:
  • Intend to teach in a designated Rural School District in MN
  • Intend to teach in an identified license shortage area
  • Belong to a racial or ethnic group underrepresented in the MN teacher workforce
    • Any applicant who belongs to a racial or ethnic group other than White Non-Hispanic, as identified on the application, is considered as belonging to a racial or ethnic group underrepresented in the MN teacher workforce.

Award Amounts:

On a funds available basis, selected undergraduate and graduate students may receive awards of up to $7,500 for one term on a first-come, first-served basis.

Priority Deadline:

Eligible students with complete applications on file with the MN Office of Higher Education (OHE) by the priority deadline (listed below) will be considered for a grant. Applications will still be accepted after the priority deadline but students are much less likely to be awarded depending on the availability of funds.

To allow the University of St. Thomas Financial Aid Office time to review and complete the College or University Section of your application, we recommend having the application components listed below submitted to the Financial Aid Office one week prior to the MN Office of Higher Education (OHE) priority deadline.

	Fall 2023	Spring 2024
Suggested Timeframe to submit application materials to St. Thomas (If applicant contacts St. Thomas after this date, application may not be submitted to OHE by priority deadline)	June 30, 2023	October 27, 2023
OHE Application Priority Deadline	July 7, 2023	November 3, 2023

Application Requirements:

The following items must be submitted to apply for the MN Student Teacher grant:

1. Student Section of the 2023-2024 Minnesota Student Teacher Grants Application.  **You must be completing at least 12 weeks of student teaching during the term you select on the application.  
   
   
2. 2023-2024 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or the MN Dream Act application (if you are not eligible to file the FAFSA)
   
   
3. After both requirements listed above have been completed you must e-mail Becky Stevenson, becky.stevenson@stthomas.edu, from your St. Thomas e-mail account, to request the university section of the application be completed.  If your e-mail request is received by the St. Thomas timeframe outlined above, the information will be submitted to OHE by their priority deadline.
   • In your e-mail, please be sure to include whether you submitted the application for the fall or spring term. 

*The MN Office of Higher Education considers the grant application to be complete after both the student portion and the university portion are submitted.