To be eligible to receive loan repayment assistance funds, an applicant must:

1. (1) submit a completed application, including transcripts of the applicant's postsecondary coursework and any other requested documents, to the Coordinating Board by the established deadline posted on the Program web page;
2. (2) be a U.S. citizen;
3. (3) have completed an undergraduate or graduate program in mathematics or science (a list of eligible majors will be posted on the Coordinating Board's website and reviewed at least once per biennium);
4. (4) have earned a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 on a four-point scale, or the equivalent, at the institution from which the teacher graduated;
5. (5) be certified under the Texas Education Code, chapter 21, subchapter B, to teach mathematics or science in a Texas public school, or be teaching under a probationary teaching certificate;
6. (6) have been employed as a full-time classroom teacher teaching mathematics or science in a public school for one to eight consecutive service periods, including during the current academic year, unless a break in service periods has occurred as a result of the circumstances described in §23.294(b) of this subchapter (relating to Limitations); and

7. (7) enter into an agreement or have an agreement on file with the Coordinating Board that includes the following provisions:

   1. (A) the applicant has accepted an offer of continued employment to teach mathematics or science, as applicable based on the teacher's certification, for an average of at least four hours each school day in a public school, for four consecutive years, beginning with the current academic year;
   2. (B) the applicant may complete up to four additional consecutive school years teaching mathematics or science, as applicable based on the teacher's certification, for an average of at least four hours each school day in a public school, beginning with the school year immediately following the last of the four consecutive school years described by subparagraph (A) of this paragraph; and
   3. (C) the applicant understands that loan repayment assistance grants are contingent on available funding received, that the Coordinating Board may make a financial commitment only based on funds that have been appropriated for each two-year state budget period, and that the applicant will be released from the teaching obligation for any year of employment for which funds are not available.

Source Note:The provisions of this §23.288 adopted to be effective August 30, 2016, 41 TexReg 6484; transferred effective December 15, 2016, as published in the Texas Register November 25, 2016, 41 TexReg 9341; amended to be effective December 5, 2019, 44 TexReg 7384; amended to be effective May 16, 2024, 49 TexReg 3279; amended to be effective November 14, 2024, 49 TexReg 8910; amended to be effective February 12, 2026, 51 TexReg 731.