• Academic Programs
• Teacher Formation Program
  • How ACE Works
  • Who We Are Looking For
  • Benefits of ACE
    • Service
    • Teaching and the M.Ed.
    • Support During ACE
    • Financial
    • Americorps
  • Where You Will Serve
  • Faces of ACE
  • ACE South Bend
• Leadership Program
• English as a New Language Program

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• Prospective
  Applicants
• Current
  Members
• Alumni
  and Friends
• Principals, Mentors,
  and M.Ed. Faculty
• Parents and
  Families

Financial

Cost-Free M.Ed.

ACE teachers receive a fully-funded graduate degree, a Master of Education, from the University of Notre Dame. Additionally, during the two summer sessions at Notre Dame, your lodging and meals are provided at no charge.

In ACE, you are required to purchase your own textbooks (roughly $200-300 each summer) and are also responsible for the costs associated with standardized testing (GRE, PRAXIS, etc.).

Living Stipend

You will receive a modest living stipend, averaging roughly $12,000 per year, depending on the cost of living of the city in which you are placed. This means that ACE teachers are paid approximately $900-$1,100 per month before taxes. From that amount, members typically contribute about $300 each month to community rent, utilities, internet, and food expenses.

Travel Stipends

ACE does not supply vehicles or auto insurance for transporting its members, though you will receive two $200 travel stipends each year. ACE also pays travel expenses to and from the annual December retreat.

Affordable Housing

During the summer, you will live (free of charge) in a dorm on campus with the other ACE teachers as well as a meal plan and access to the University gyms.

During the year, you will live together in a community of 4-7 fellow ACE teachers in affordable housing located by the diocese in which you serve. Available housing varies widely from diocese to diocese – many ACE houses are former convents or rectories, others are rented from local parish members or benefactors, while others are apartments. You will be expected to contribute each month to pay for rent, utilities, and internet. Teaching stipends are determined based on the cost of living in each community to ensure that living costs are manageable.

Health Insurance

ACE teachers receive complete medical insurance coverage through Meritain Health during their two years of service. This insurance does not include provisions for optical and dental expenses.

Loan Deferment

As full-time graduate students, you will be eligible to defer undergraduate student loans. As well, many ACE teachers qualify for partial or complete cancellation of Perkins loans depending on the subject(s) they teach and the eligibility of their ACE school.

Graduate School Deferment

ACE has a deal with the Notre Dame Law School that allows accepted ACE applicants who have also been accepted to the Law School to defer their acceptance for two years while they serve in ACE.

AmeriCorps Education Award

Click here to learn about the AmeriCorps Education Award.