UW–Madison School of Education Wisconsin Teacher Pledge FAQ

The UW-Madison School of Education Wisconsin Teacher Pledge — also known as the Teacher Pledge — is an opt-in financial aid program at the UW-Madison School of Education that provides forgivable loans to our teacher education students who pledge to stay and teach at a Wisconsin PK-12 school for three-to-four school years.

Undergraduate and graduate students who meet the following criteria:

1. Be admitted to and enroll in a UW-Madison School of Education teacher education program.
2. Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for each year enrolled in a teacher education program.
3. Pledge to stay and teach in the state of Wisconsin for at least three-to-four school years after graduation.

There is no application for the Teacher Pledge program. A student must be accepted to and enroll in a teacher education program at the UW-Madison School of Education, complete the FAFSA for each year enrolled in their teacher education program, and accept Teacher Pledge offers. The Office of Student Financial Aid (OSFA) will offer students Teacher Pledge loans as part of their financial aid package.

The Teacher Pledge program is designed to provide support to students in a teacher education program. Because freshmen and sophomores are “pre”-education students until their junior year, the program does not cover costs associated with the freshman and sophomore years.

The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student) form you complete should correspond with the academic year for which you’re seeking financial aid. The financial aid cycle at UW-Madison is Fall-Spring-Summer.

Every year, the FAFSA has a 21-month application cycle that typically opens October 1 and closes June 30 (e.g. the 2022-2023 FAFSA opened on October 1, 2021, and closed June 30, 2023).

Let’s use Summer 2025, Fall 2025, and Spring 2026 as an example:

• If you are seeking financial aid for the Summer 2025 term, you must complete and submit the 2024-2025 FAFSA to UW-Madison no later than June 30, 2025. June 30 is a federal deadline and it is not flexible.
• If you are seeking financial aid for the Fall 2025/Spring 2026 term, you must complete and submit the 2025-2026 FAFSA to UW-Madison. You can submit it as early as December 2024 (when the application opens) or as late as the end of the academic year (May 2026). The Office of Student Financial Aid recommends completing and submitting the FAFSA as soon as possible.

If you have any questions about FAFSA completion or submission, please contact the Office of Student Financial Aid, finaid@finaid.wisc.edu.

The Teacher Pledge is available to teacher education students who complete and submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to UW-Madison. International students are not eligible to complete and submit the FAFSA, so cannot participate in the Teacher Pledge.

Yes, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students may participate in the Teacher Pledge. Please reach out to the Teacher Pledge program manager for more information.

Yes, students who receive support from the GI Bill, or participate in Bucky’s Tuition Promise, Badger Promise, or Bucky’s Pell Pathway, may also participate in the Teacher Pledge.

Yes, the Teacher Pledge program provides one term of summer support for undergraduate students — the summer between their first and second year enrolled in a teacher education program (typically, the summer between junior and senior year).

Students who take the Teacher Pledge then take time away from their teacher education program (for whatever reason, including change of major) must re-enroll in their teacher education program within one semester (not counting summer) to maintain continued eligibility for Teacher Pledge funding.

For example, if a student taking the Teacher Pledge leaves their teacher education program after the Spring 2023 term with plans to re-enroll in Spring 2024, we can resume Teacher Pledge funding in Spring 2024, because they were gone for only one semester (Fall 2023). If the student does not re-enroll by Spring 2024, we cannot offer continued Teacher Pledge funding.

If the student is dis-enrolled from their teacher education program for more than one semester, their grace period for Teacher Pledge funds already received will have begun at their point of initial exit. The student will not be eligible to receive further Teacher Pledge funds, nor will the student be eligible for Teacher Pledge loan forgiveness.

If the student returns after one semester or less, they may continue to receive Teacher Pledge funds and their grace period will begin at completion of and graduation from their teacher education program.

• Complete your online Teacher Pledge loan exit interview with the Bursar’s Office.
• Obtain your Wisconsin teaching license through the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI).
• Obtain an at-least 75% FTE (0.75 FTE), full-school-year teaching position at a PK-12 Wisconsin school.
• Work at-least 75% FTE (0.75 FTE) at a PK-12 Wisconsin school for three to four school years over the five-year post-graduation period.
• Complete the employment verification request annually to be considered for Teacher Pledge loan forgiveness. You will receive this request via email at the end of each school year of your five-year post-graduation period.
• Complete Teacher Pledge student surveys and other research-related requests from SSTAR Lab.
• Check out the “After Graduation” section of the Teacher Pledge website.

All Teacher Pledge alumni have a five-year post-graduation grace period. During this time — also known as the “five-year window” — Teacher Pledge alumni are expected to complete their three-to-four year Wisconsin teaching committment. The five-year window begins the next school year following your graduation (e.g. whether you graduate in Fall 2021, Spring 2022, or Summer 2022, the five-year window begins in Fall 2022).

Please note Teacher Pledge alumni do not have to make payments (and no interest will accumulate) during the period between graduation and the beginning of the five-year window.

Fall/Spring Teacher Pledge offers can be accepted any time throughout the academic year, as long as the necessary steps are completed by two weeks before the final day of the Spring term. Summer Teacher Pledge offers must be accepted by one week before the final day of the Summer term.

1. Successfully complete and graduate from a UW–Madison teacher education program.
2. Obtain a teaching license from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
3. Be hired for at least 75% FTE (0.75 FTE), full-year teaching position by a PK-12 school in Wisconsin.
4. Maintain employment as a teacher in Wisconsin for three to four school years and complete the employment verification request annually.
5. Teaching must be performed within five school years of graduation.

All Teacher Pledge loans awarded as part of the Teacher Pledge program can be forgiven if the student fulfills the three-to-four school year teaching commitment.

For students who teach in high-need subject areas or high-need schools in the state, the loan forgiveness period requires three school years of teaching in Wisconsin.

For students who teach in a non-high-need subject and non-high-need school, the loan forgiveness period requires four school years of teaching in Wisconsin.

See schedule below for the annual rates of forgiveness. Forgiveness is applied upon completion of a full school year of at least 75% FTE (0.75 FTE) if the annual employment verification request has been successfully completed and submitted.

For more information on the annual employment verification request, please click here.

High-need subject areas in Wisconsin (as defined by Wisconsin DPI):

• • Art
  • Bilingual Education
  • Business Education
  • English as a Second Language (ESL)
  • Family and Consumer Education
  • Foreign Languages
  • Health
  • Marketing Education
  • Mathematics (Secondary)
  • Music
  • Physical Education
  • Reading (Teacher)
  • Science (Secondary)
  • Special Education
  • Technology Education

High-need schools are qualifying schools within federal Title I districts in Wisconsin, as defined annually by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Federal Student Aid. A directory of these schools can be found at the Teacher Cancellation Low Income (TCLI) Directory.

Current Wisconsin TCLI Directory Schools:

2023-2024

2022-2023

2021-2022

2020-2021

2019-2020

2018-2019

When using the directory, search by school name; not all schools within a Title 1 school district necessarily qualify. Qualifying schools must have greater than 30% of low-income students.

If a student successfully completes their teacher education program and graduates, but does not fulfill any of their Teacher Pledge teaching commitment, they will be required to start making payments to UW–Madison for Teacher Pledge funds awarded within five years of graduation.

If a student withdraws from their teacher education program and/or UW-Madison, the student will be required to start making payments to UW-Madison for Teacher Pledge funds awarded within five years of withdrawal.

The loan has no interest unless the student does not fulfill their Teacher Pledge teaching commitment, at which point a fixed 5% interest rate will be applied to the balance. The remaining principal and interest will be collected over a 10-year repayment period.

The Teacher Pledge program may provide support toward study abroad fees for teacher education students who participate in credit-earning programs through the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The International Academic Programs’ (IAP) office has 250+ study abroad programs from which to choose.

If you are a Teacher Pledge student who plans to study abroad, please reach out to the Teacher Pledge program manager, Carly Marco, cmarco@wisc.edu for more specific information.

Students who choose to participate are required to complete an exit interview with the Bursar’s Office upon graduation to ensure the terms for the Teacher Pledge loan are understood.

Beginning in the 2020-21 academic year, the Student Success Through Applied Research (SSTAR) Lab at the UW–Madison will partner with the School of Education to evaluate the Teacher Pledge program. The goal is to support the design and implementation of the new loan program in order to maximize its benefits to current and future students.