Unfortunately, it is not possible to hold a position on Pre-Service staff if you are an incoming corps member. It is of critical importance that our incoming corps members focus on their professional development as educators and on student achievement during Pre-Service. Additionally, staff positions require work hours during the same hours that the incoming corps will be teaching and in sessions, so it is not logistically possible to do both at the same time.

Yes, you can apply for both an institute staff position and a full-time position with Teach For America. Separate applications are required, and applicants will be considered separately for both positions. Should you receive offers for both positions, the senior managing director of institute and the manager for the full-time role can address the feasibility of taking both positions.

The applicant activity is a mandatory part of all the summer institute roles. To learn more about the applicant activities, please review the entire job description for each role. The applicant activity information is located at the bottom of the job description. It will also be provided to you in an email you will receive once you have started your online application.

Unfortunately, due to the high volume of applications, we are unable to give individualized feedback on interviews.

Teach For America does not pay for your certification or master's degree, however, there are different benefits available to corps members to help pay for the coursework that you must take in order to teach in your region.

Many regions have relationships with local universities that offer reduced tuition for corps members.

In some regions, you can qualify for tuition exemption based on the fact that you're a teacher.

Teacher certification costs widely vary across regions, so we recommend that you compare regions with our Explore tool to get a better understanding of what expenses to expect. Costs can include fees for licensing, as well as tuition for required coursework.

You should expect to pay for some, if not all, of your teacher certification expenses, though some regions may offer discounted tuition rates through their university partner and/or other financial benefits.

Most corps members receive their first paycheck between late August and late September depending on regional assignment. In an effort to ensure that qualified candidates from all economic situations are able to join the corps, we offer a few financial support options to help you make it to your first paycheck. Our Transitional Financial Support is designed to assist with costs including travel to the community where you will teach, relocation expenses, and testing and initial certification fees.

Teach For America corps members do not receive a salary during pre-service. Corps members are not employees of Teach For America and thus are not paid a salary by Teach for America.  However, all incoming corps members receive a stipend to offset some of the costs of onboarding and transitioning into the corps. Learn more about available financial support here.

Teach For America doesn't specifically offer loan cancellation or forgiveness to corps members. As a nonprofit organization with limited funds, we unfortunately don't have the resources to forgive the student loans of all of our corps members. However, some school districts and programs offer loan cancellation to teachers who serve a number of years in a school district.

Several of our regions have established partnerships with universities to facilitate your work toward a master's degree during your two-year commitment. These programs vary from site to site and year to year. Some may be offered at reduced cost.

Keep in mind that because of these programs change frequently, we encourage you to avoid selecting regions solely based on these partnerships. We ask that you remain flexible as to where you are willing to teach so that we can best meet the needs of students.