Iowa Student Loan has established a grant program to provide a “signing bonus” for educators who plan to teach subjects identified as shortage areas.

The Iowa Student Loan Teacher Career Establishment Grant program will provide nearly $125,000 annually in the form of direct grants to new teachers.

Shortage areas defined by the Iowa Department of Education include mathematics, all branches of science, English language learners, talented and gifted, music, agriculture, family and consumer science, foreign languages, industrial arts and special education.

Teachers in those subject areas can receive a one-time award of $2,000 that can be used at their discretion.

Iowa Student Loan will award as many as 62 grants each year.

The grant program coincides with the conclusion of a loan forgiveness program for teachers that was initiated in 2006 and stopped taking applications with the 2009-2010 award year.