Eleven states run a home buying program built specifically for teachers, and in several of them the money beats every national program combined. Everywhere else, teachers use the same first-time buyer assistance as anyone else, which is still worth real money. We checked all fifty states and the District of Columbia against each housing agency’s own pages. Here’s what each one actually offers.
If you’ve already read our roundup of national teacher home loan programs, this is the other half of the picture, and for most teachers it’s the half with the bigger number attached.
States With A Program Built Specifically For Teachers
Colorado has the most generous one we found. Schools To Home offers a second mortgage worth up to 25% of your first mortgage, open to any full-time employee of a Colorado preK-12 public school, district, charter school or board of cooperative educational services. It uses a shared appreciation structure, so when you sell or refinance you repay the loan plus a share of the home’s gain, set five points below the percentage you borrowed.
Florida’s Hometown Heroes pays up to 5% of the first mortgage, with a maximum of $35,000 and a minimum of $10,000. It’s a 0% interest, non-amortizing second mortgage, and the important detail is that it isn’t forgivable: it becomes due in full when you sell, refinance, transfer the deed, or stop living there. Eligibility runs through a list of workforce occupations that includes school staff, and you need to be a first-time, income-qualified buyer working for a Florida employer.
Texas runs Homes for Texas Heroes through TSAHC, worth up to 5% of the loan as either a grant you never repay or a second lien fully forgiven after three years. It covers Professional Educators broadly, meaning classroom teachers, teacher aides, school librarians, counselors and nurses, alongside several other public service professions.
Maryland offers teachers and first responders 5% of the first mortgage through the Maryland Mortgage Program, as a 0% interest second loan deferred over 30 years, paired with a lower rate on the first mortgage.
South Carolina’s Palmetto Heroes provides $10,000 in forgivable down payment assistance alongside a low fixed-rate mortgage. Eligibility is specific about roles: classroom teachers, school librarians, counselors, psychologists and speech-language pathologists, all needing an active South Carolina teaching certification. Funds go first come, first served, and you need an executed sales contract to claim them.
Nevada’s Home Is Possible for Teachers gives $7,500 toward down payment and closing costs as a 0% interest second mortgage, forgiven after five years in the home. You need to be a licensed full-time K-12 public school classroom teacher in Nevada, with income up to $165,000.
Louisiana’s Keys for Service pays 4% down payment assistance on a 30-year mortgage to active, full-time teachers holding Louisiana certification, with a household income cap of $110,000. You don’t have to be a first-time buyer.
Connecticut’s Teachers Mortgage Assistance Program discounts CHFA’s already below-market rate by 0.125%, rising to 0.25% if you qualify as Recruit and Retain. You need a valid Connecticut certificate, and most applicants need to teach in a priority or transitional district or a subject matter shortage area.
Delaware runs the Diamond down payment assistance program, a forgivable second mortgage for essential workers including education staff, alongside the Delaware Talent Cooperative, which provides a rate reduction on the first mortgage for participating members.
Idaho’s Heroes Loan Program names teachers alongside nurses, firefighters, law enforcement, paramedics and military, and offers up to 7% of the sales price in combined down payment and closing cost assistance plus a reduced mortgage rate. Income limits run to $125,000 statewide and $135,000 in Blaine County, there’s no first-time buyer requirement, and it can’t be used to refinance. Idaho Housing doesn’t publish the size of the rate reduction.
Mississippi’s Housing Assistance for Teachers grants up to $6,000, and it’s the narrowest program on this page. It’s limited to teachers in critical shortage subjects, meaning special education, foreign language, mathematics and science, working in designated shortage districts. Teach there three years and the loan is forgiven.
States With A Teacher Program Whose Terms Aren’t Published
Six more states run a program that names teachers directly, but don’t publish the specific numbers where a buyer can read them. In each case the program is real and worth a phone call, and we’d rather say that than quote a figure we couldn’t confirm.
Hawaii has the most distinctive arrangement of the six. The This is HOME program runs through American Savings Bank in partnership with the Hawaii State Teachers Association, offering a low down payment option, below-market rates and discounted mortgage insurance to teachers whether or not they’re first-time buyers, plus half a point off a refinance. The bank’s own program page refused our requests, so the specific down payment figure isn’t confirmed here. Separately, the state’s Hale Kamaaina program is open to any qualifying first-time buyer and publishes its current rates.
Ohio’s Ohio Heroes names teachers from pre-K through grade 12, plus administrators and counselors, and offers a discounted mortgage rate with optional down payment assistance forgiven over time. OHFA’s own pages describe the benefit without stating the rate discount or the assistance amount.
Tennessee added teachers to THDA’s Homeownership for Heroes program, which cuts 0.50% off the Great Choice loan rate, described by THDA as saving roughly $125 a month. THDA’s standard down payment assistance of $6,000 to $15,000 runs alongside it.
Oklahoma’s OHFA publishes special rates for school employees among other public service professions. A teacher-specific program name and a 3.5% assistance figure circulate, and OHFA’s own page confirms the special rates without naming either.
New Hampshire’s Community Heroes Initiative includes teachers among its eligible professions and stacks with the state’s general assistance of up to $15,000, forgiven at 25% a year over four years.
Washington’s House Key Schools program, a second mortgage for school employees, appears in several lender descriptions but not on the housing commission’s current site following its rebrand. Washington’s general Home Advantage assistance of 3% to 5% is confirmed and available now.
Every Other State, And What You Can Use There
These states don’t run a teacher-specific program. They do run a first-time buyer program you can use as a teacher, and several pay more than the national programs do. Income and purchase price limits apply everywhere, and most require a homebuyer education course.
| State | Program | What it pays |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | AHFA Step Up / First Step | Up to 3% of the price as a 10-year second mortgage, or up to $10,000. |
| Arizona | Home Plus | Down payment assistance up to 5%, paired with a 30-year fixed first mortgage. |
| Arkansas | ADFA StartSmart / Move-Up | $1,000 to $15,000 as a deferred loan, with wider income limits for essential workers including teachers. |
| California | MyHome Assistance | 3% of the price on conventional loans, 3.5% on government loans, as a junior loan. |
| Georgia | Georgia Dream | A 0% interest deferred second mortgage, with the amount set by which tier you qualify for. |
| Illinois | IHDA Access | 4% up to $6,000 forgivable over 10 years, or deferred and repayable options up to $10,000. |
| Indiana | IHCDA First Step / Next Home | Up to 6% on First Step, or up to 3.5% on Next Home, which is open to repeat buyers. |
| Iowa | FirstHome | A $2,500 grant, or a second loan up to 5% of the sale price repayable on sale or refinance. |
| Kansas | KHRC First-Time Homebuyer | A 0% interest second loan of 15% or 20% of the price, up to $40,000, forgiven after 10 years. |
| Kentucky | KHC Down Payment Assistance | Up to $12,500, structured as a 15-year second mortgage at 4.75% interest rather than deferred. |
| Maine | MaineHousing Advantage | Up to $5,000, rising per unit on 2 to 4 unit properties. |
| Massachusetts | MassHousing Down Payment Assistance | Up to $30,000 as a second mortgage, available in every city and town. |
| Michigan | MSHDA Down Payment Assistance | Up to $10,000 in select ZIP codes or $7,500 elsewhere, 0% interest, due on sale. |
| Minnesota | Start Up / Step Up | Up to $18,000, repaid over 10 years at the first mortgage rate, with $1,000 of your own money required. |
| Missouri | MHDC First Place / Next Step | Up to 4% of the loan, forgivable on First Place or deferred on Next Step. |
| Montana | MBOH Plus / Bond Advantage | Up to 5% of the sale price, capped at $15,000, at 0% interest and due on sale. |
| Nebraska | NIFA Homebuyer Assistance | Up to 5% capped at $10,000, as a 10-year second mortgage at 1% interest. |
| New Jersey | NJHMFA Down Payment Assistance | $15,000 in most counties, $17,000 in designated urban counties, forgiven after five years. A First Generation add-on can take it to $22,000. |
| New Mexico | HomeNow / HomeForward | $7,000 at 0% interest, forgivable after 10 years, or up to 3% of the price. |
| New York | SONYMA Down Payment Assistance Loan | 3% of the price up to $15,000, at 0% interest, forgiven after 10 years. |
| North Carolina | NC Home Advantage / 1st Home Advantage | Up to 5% of the loan forgiven over 15 years, or a flat $15,000 second mortgage forgiven in years 11 to 15. |
| North Dakota | NDHFA DCA | 3% of the first mortgage toward down payment, closing costs and prepaids. |
| Oregon | OHCS Down Payment Assistance | Up to $15,000 through a participating local organization, with homebuyer education required. |
| Pennsylvania | Keystone Advantage Assistance Loan | Up to 4% of the price capped at $6,000, at 0% interest, repaid monthly over 10 years. |
| Rhode Island | RIHousing 15kDPA / Extra Assistance | $15,000 at 0% interest, or up to $20,000 through the Extra Assistance loan. |
| South Dakota | SDHDA Downpayment Assistance | 3% or 5% of the first mortgage as a 0% interest second mortgage. |
| Utah | UHC Down Payment Assistance | 4% to 6% of the first mortgage up to $25,000, deferred or forgivable. Ogden City separately offers $15,000 to state-certified K-12 teachers and administrators. |
| Vermont | VHFA ASSIST | Up to $10,000 at 0% interest, non-amortizing, paired with a VHFA first mortgage. |
| Virginia | Down Payment Assistance Grant | 2.0% of the price on a conventional loan or 2.5% on an FHA loan, as a true grant with no repayment. |
| Washington | Home Advantage DPA | 3% to 5% of the first mortgage as a 0% interest deferred second mortgage. |
| West Virginia | WVHDF HOMEownership | $7,500 or $10,000 depending on your down payment, repaid over 15 years at roughly 2% interest. |
| Wisconsin | WHEDA Easy Close / Capital Access | Easy Close is a repayable 10-year second mortgage. Capital Access is forgivable and deferred until you sell or refinance. |
| Wyoming | WCDA Down Payment Assistance | Up to $15,000 combined across programs at 0% interest, with $1,500 of your own money required. |
| Washington, DC | HPAP | Up to $202,000 in gap financing plus $4,000 toward closing costs, income-gated, with repayment deferred. |
One State Without A Home Buying Program For Teachers
Alaska is the exception. Its Rural Professional Housing program does fund teacher housing, but it funds construction and rehabilitation of rental housing, awarded to school districts, local governments and housing authorities rather than to individual buyers. There’s no Alaska program a teacher applies to in order to buy a home. Alaska teachers are better served by the national programs, particularly Teacher Next Door and the Educator Mortgage Program.
Three State Programs Worth Correcting
Georgia’s PEN Choice program. A program for Protectors, Educators and Nurses paying 6% up to $12,500 gets described in detail in a lot of places. Georgia’s Department of Community Affairs currently lists Georgia Dream, Peach Select VA, Peach Plus and Peach Advantage, and no PEN Choice. Georgia teachers should work from Georgia Dream and ask a participating lender what tier they qualify for.
New York’s SONYMA Teacher Program. A $15,000 teacher-specific SONYMA program gets referenced regularly. SONYMA’s own down payment assistance loan is general rather than teacher-gated, and the $15,000 figure traces back to a Teacher Next Door announcement aimed at New York, which is the national program rather than a state one.
Virginia’s Teacher Mortgage Assistance Program. Virginia Housing’s Down Payment Assistance Grant is real and teachers use it heavily, but it isn’t teacher-exclusive and isn’t a separate teacher program. It pays 2.0% on a conventional loan or 2.5% on an FHA loan as a true grant.
Q&A
Q: Can I use a state program and a national one together?
A: Often yes, because they usually pay different costs. State programs mostly cover the down payment, while the Educator Mortgage Program and Homes for Heroes pay at closing. Have your lender confirm the specific pair before you rely on both.
Q: Do I have to be a first-time buyer?
A: For most state programs, yes, though the definition usually means you haven’t owned a home in three years rather than never. Louisiana, Idaho and several others drop the requirement entirely.
Q: I teach at a private school or a charter. Do state programs cover me?
A: It varies more than anything else on this page. Colorado covers charter and institute charter schools explicitly. Nevada requires a public school position. Several states require a state teaching certificate, which effectively decides it.
Q: What if I teach in one state and want to buy in another?
A: State programs are tied to the property’s location and usually to employment in that state too. Buying across a state line generally means you’re working from the national programs instead.
Q: Are these amounts grants or loans?
A: All three kinds appear here. True grants never get repaid. Forgivable loans disappear after a set number of years in the home. Deferred loans wait quietly and come due when you sell or refinance, and Florida’s is the clearest example of one people mistake for a grant.
Q: Who actually runs these programs?
A: Your state housing finance agency, and none of them lend directly. You apply through an approved lender in their network, so the first call is to find one rather than to the agency.
More Information:
Every program above was checked against its own state housing agency’s pages. Programs in the first section were confirmed with their specific terms stated. Programs in the second section are confirmed to exist and name teachers, without published figures. Funding for these programs runs out and gets renewed on state budget cycles, so confirm current availability with an approved lender before counting on any of it.
