Who can apply?
All students seeking their initial teacher preparation degree. This includes freshmen, upper classmen, and transfer students.
What qualifications do I need to meet to be eligible for this program?
Can Arts and Sciences students in TE-PLUS apply?
Yes.
Can Music Education students apply?
No.
Are graduate students eligible?
Yes.
If I graduated prior to Fall 2014, am I eligible to apply for the debt-free teachers program?
Any student who graduated in Spring 2014 or later and who had received a Lew Wentz Merit Loan prior to graduating is eligible to apply if they meet all other qualifications for the program. Students who graduated prior to Spring 2014 are ineligible.
Am I eligible for more than one Lew Wentz Oklahoma Teacher Debt-Forgiveness Loan?
No. You may only receive one loan for up to $5,000 per year for four years ($20,000 aggregate).
What are my obligations if I am accepted into the debt-free teachers program?
As an OU student:
What happens if I change my major from one teaching major to another teaching major?
The change must be pre-approved by the College and a new student/college agreement must be signed
What happens if I leave teacher education for a different major that does not pertain to education?
The borrower must repay the loan to the University of Oklahoma based on the terms of the Promissory Note.
Once I'm accepted into the debt-free teachers program, what benchmarks must I meet to continue my eligibility in the program for the loan?
What happens if I am put on academic or dispositional contract at JRCoE?
When you are placed on an academic or dispositional contract, you will have a specified time frame to meet the conditions and requirements and come off the contract. If you do not meet the conditions and requirements within the specified time limits you will be stopped out of the College. You are no longer in good standing with the College and the loan must be paid back to the University of Oklahoma according to the terms of the Promissory Note.
What happens if I don’t accept a job in a qualifying content area or location?
You are no longer in compliance with your College Agreement and the Loan must be paid back to the University of Oklahoma according to the terms of the Promissory Note.
What happens if I leave Oklahoma?
You are no longer in compliance with your College Agreement and the loan must be paid back to the University of Oklahoma according to the terms of the Promissory Note.
What happens if I leave my qualifying job before I have taught for four years?
The remaining balance of the loan is your responsibility and must be repaid to the University of Oklahoma
On top of the remaining loan balance, What interest will I be responsible for paying?
Lew Wentz loans have a 5% interest rate that starts accruing from the time of disbursement. As an incentive, the interest is forgiven each year for students/participants who remain in this program; therefore, each year, upon confirmation from the College, their annual interest is manually removed. When a borrower enters the workforce, they will need to submit an Employment Deferment form indicating that they are employed for that school year. This form must be submitted to our office no later than September. Financial Services would then mark the loan as deferred and no payment is due. Sometimes in May or June, the College will submit a Cancelation Form that they have received from the borrower indicating that the borrower has fulfilled their employment obligation for that school year. At that time, we will cancel 25% of the original principal and any accrued interest.
Should a borrower leave the program, then no Deferment form will be submitted to our office. At that time, the loan will go into repayment and interest that started accruing beginning July 1 of that year will be due.
For loan forgiveness purposes, how many weeks make up a full academic year?
If you do not complete a full school year of qualifying teaching service, but complete at least one-half of a school year, the half-year of teaching will be counted as one of your four required years of teaching service only if your school employer considers you to have fulfilled your contract requirements for the school year for purposes of salary increases, tenure, and retirement because you were unable to complete a full school year of teaching due to:
What if I must leave before the school year is over for personal reasons/What if I’m asked to leave before the school year is over?
You are no longer in compliance with your College Agreement (high quality teacher) and it is your responsibility to pay back the loan to the University of Oklahoma
What if I must leave before the school year is over for personal reasons?
You are no longer in compliance with your College Agreement. It is your responsibility to pay back the loan to the University of Oklahoma unless it is a pre-approved condition per your Agreement with the College. Specifically:
The conditions listed above are the only conditions under which you may receive a deferment/cancellation of the six-year period for completing your service obligation.
What happens if my principal reports that I was not successful as a teacher during a year of employment?
You are no longer in compliance with your College Agreement (high quality teacher) and it is your responsibility to pay back to the University of Oklahoma
What happens if I have a personal situation that prevents me from taking a job?
You are no longer in compliance with your College Agreement and it is your responsibility to pay back the loan to the University of Oklahoma unless it is a pre-approved condition per your Agreement with the College. Specifically:
The conditions listed above are the only conditions under which you may receive a deferment/canellation of the six-year period for completing your service obligation.
What happens if I have a condition that causes me to take a year off?
You are no longer in compliance with your College Agreement and it is your responsibility to pay back the loan to the University of Oklahoma unless it is a pre-approved condition per your Agreement with the College. Specifically:
The conditions listed above are the only conditions under which you may receive a cancellation/deferment of the six-year period for completing your service obligation.
Will my current student loans qualify for this debt forgiveness program?
No.
If I borrow less than $20,000, how much is forgiven each of the four years I teach?
Assuming you meet all requirements, your total debt will be forgiven at a rate of 25% each year for up to 4 years.
How are high-needs content areas and high-need locations selected? Content area?
These are pre-determined by the College selection committee and will reflect the highest need content areas and locations in Oklahoma.
Can I apply if I am not in a degree program that is one of the designated high need?
Before applying, you should discuss your intentions with Dr. Sherry Cox to see if your area could be considered high need.
If I graduated in Spring 2014 or later, from the Teacher Certification Program that requires completing the student teaching internship as a first semester graduate student, am I eligible to apply for the debt-free teachers program?
Yes, as long as you plan to teach in Oklahoma in a high-need content area or location.
