How to Take the Teacher Pledge

Congratulations! We are so excited that you have decided to take the Teacher Pledge. You have taken the first big step toward a rewarding career and financial freedom. Here’s what you need to do next:

Fill out the FAFSA!

There is no separate application for the Teacher Pledge — just fill out and submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to UW-Madison.

Once your FAFSA has been processed, you will receive notification of your financial aid offers — including the Teacher Pledge. Once you have received a Teacher Pledge offer, you can complete the three steps below to accept it.

Note: Teacher Pledge offers for the summer term are made separately from fall/spring offers.

Complete 3 Steps to Take the Teacher Pledge

• Step 1: Accepting the Teacher Pledge Student Agreement
  • Log in to MyUW Student Center using your NetID
  • Click on the Student eForms tile
  • Click Financial Aid
  • Review the Teacher Pledge Student Agreement
  • Select “Yes” to accept the agreement
  • Click “Submit”
  • Note: Step 1 only needs to be completed once, ever. Steps 2 and 3 must be completed with each Teacher Pledge offer you wish to accept.
• Step 2: Accepting the Loan
  • Log in to MyUW Student Center using your NetID
  • Click on the Financial Aid tile
  • Check! Are you in the right aid year? If not, click “CHANGE” and choose your aid year.
  • Within the Financial Aid tile, please click the following:
    • Accept/Decline
    • The pencil icon (which is an edit button)
    • Use the dropdown to take action on the loan
    • Click submit
• Step 3: Signing the Promissory Note
  • You will receive an email from Heartland ECSI (webmaster@ecsi.net) within 48 business hours after completing Step 2.
  • This email from Heartland ECSI will link you to your promissory note — you’ll click the link for “Nursing/Health Profession/Dental, or other Institutional/Private Loan(s)” and complete the promissory note process.
  • If you have successfully completed the promissory note process, you will receive a Promissory Note Confirmation email from webmaster@ecsi.net (Heartland ECSI).
  • Your Teacher Pledge loan funds will disburse within 6-8 business days after succesful completion of all three steps.

The Teacher Pledge program will check that you have completed all necessary steps. If you miss a step, you will be notified.

If you have any questions about your account or balance, please email the Bursar’s Office.

If you have any questions about the Teacher Pledge, please email me. Our schools, communities, and the UW-Madison School of Education thank you for your commitment to the children and families in Wisconsin!

On Wisconsin,

Carly Marco
Teacher Pledge Program Manager
(608) 263-4001
cmarco@wisc.edu