Could Draw Educators to Rural WCRIS Schools
Last Thursday, Governor Walker signed legislation for the public and private school teacher loan forgiveness program to include state-wide, rural school districts alongside the current Milwaukee program.
The teacher loan program is administered by The Higher Education Aids Board (HEAB). The HEAB awards loans to eligible students up to $10,000 each annually for a maximum of three years.
Students eligible to receive the HEAB loans are those who are enrolled in a course of study in Wisconsin that will lead to a teacher’s license in an identified field where there are teacher shortages.
A teacher may be eligible to have 25 percent of his/her HEAB loan forgiven each year if they are a full-time, employed teacher at a public or private school in Milwaukee or in a county defined as rural, in a field identified as a teacher shortage area.
The goal of the expansion of the program is to help Wisconsin’s rural areas draw in and sustain more educators, especially in areas where is it harder to attract and keep teachers in the field, by forgiving their loan debt. The expansion should attract new teachers to these areas and makes it easier for them to continue their careers as educators.
The expanded program takes effect April 16, 2016 and includes loan recipients who are employed as full-time teachers as of that date.
WCRIS encourages teachers who are interested in this program to contact the HEAB with questions or to determine eligibility.
More information about the HEAB and teacher loan forgiveness can be found here.
