Guide · Ohio

I just graduated and started teaching or nursing. Grants for Grads or Ohio Heroes?

A new teacher or nurse in Ohio may qualify for both OHFA programs. Grants for Grads forgives its help in five years if you stay in Ohio; Ohio Heroes takes seven. How to pick, and how lenders count a first-year paycheck.

Short answer

If your degree is less than 18 months old, compare both. Each pairs a discounted OHFA rate with 3% or 3.5% down payment help. Grants for Grads forgives the help after five years if you stay in Ohio, and it uses OHFA's higher income-limit table. Ohio Heroes takes seven years but doesn't care when you graduated.

The short version

New graduates in Ohio's public-service jobs are in a rare spot: two OHFA programs may want them. OHFA doesn't say whether the two can be combined, so treat it as a choice. Here's the comparison.

Side by side

	Grants for Grads	Ohio Heroes
Who	Anyone who earned an associate, bachelor's, master's, doctorate or other post-graduate degree from an accredited school in the last 18 months	Pre-K to 12 teachers, administrators and counselors; police; firefighters, EMTs and paramedics; physicians, NPs, RNs, LPNs and STNAs; veterans and service members
Rate	Discounted OHFA rate	Discounted OHFA rate
Down payment help	3% conventional, 3.5% FHA/VA/USDA	3% conventional, 3.5% FHA/VA/USDA
Forgiven after	5 years, if you stay in Ohio	7 years; repay all if you sell sooner
Income limits	OHFA's "FTHB Edge, Next Home, Grants for Grads" table (the higher one)	OHFA's standard first-time limits (per our reading; confirm)
Deadline	18 months after your degree	None; open year-round

OHFA doesn't publish the size of either rate discount. Lenders quote it. Ask for both on the same day, on the same house, so you're comparing like with like.

When Grants for Grads wins

You might sell within seven years, but you'll likely stay in Ohio. A five-year clock beats seven.
Your income is near the standard limit. The Grants for Grads table is higher. A new nurse working extra shifts, or a two-income household, may fit one and not the other.
Your job isn't on the Heroes list. A new pharmacist, respiratory therapist, social worker or lab tech can use Grants for Grads if the degree is recent.

When Ohio Heroes wins

You're past 18 months. The Grants for Grads window closes for good. Ohio Heroes has no graduation date.
You might move out of state. Grants for Grads' five-year forgiveness depends on staying in Ohio. The payback rule OHFA describes for Ohio Heroes is triggered by selling, not by where you take your next job.
You're a career-changer who became a teacher through an alternative license, with no recent degree.

The harder part: proving a first-year income

Either program runs on a regular FHA, VA, USDA or conventional first mortgage. That means the underwriting rules for new jobs and school schedules apply. These come from the federal guides, not from OHFA.

You haven't started yet

Signed a contract with a district for next fall? You may not have to wait for your first paycheck.

Fannie Mae accepts a fully signed, non-contingent offer or contract that names the job, pay and start date. Under one option, on a one-unit home qualified on base pay, the start date must fall from 30 days before to 90 days after closing, and you need cash reserves of six months of payments, or enough to cover your bills until you start plus a month.
Freddie Mac allows income starting within 90 days after closing on a one-unit primary home, if the pay is a fixed salary or guaranteed hourly minimum. The lender verifies you have money to cover housing and debts until you start, plus one month.
FHA has no offer-letter provision. It does let time in school or the military count toward the two-year work history for new graduates.

You're paid over 10 months, not 12

Freddie Mac's guide uses teachers as its example: divide annual gross pay by 12. A teacher paid $5,000 a month for 10 months qualifies on $50,000 divided by 12, or about $4,167 a month. Other agencies' versions of this rule weren't confirmed, so your lender confirms how it calculates yours. Summer school pay is treated as seasonal or second-job income; Freddie Mac says less than two years of it may be justified for a teacher.

You're a new nurse on 12-hour shifts

Freddie Mac gives this exact example: a nurse who works three 12-hour shifts a week, verified as required hours, can have those 36 hours treated as base pay even after only four months on the job. Overtime and shift differential beyond that need a history before they count.

Student loans can decide it

New grads usually carry student debt, and it counts against you even if the payment is $0. FHA uses 0.5% of the balance when the credit report shows a $0 income-driven payment. Fannie Mae accepts a documented $0 payment. Freddie Mac uses 0.5% of the balance. On a $60,000 balance, that's a $300 monthly payment on paper under FHA or Freddie, and possibly $0 under Fannie. That gap can make or break your debt ratio. See our credit and debt guide.

If you work for a public school, police or fire department, or a 501(c)(3) hospital, you may be on track for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Freddie Mac can leave PSLF loans out of your ratio in limited cases, such as when 10 or fewer payments remain.

Your move

Write down your degree date. Count 18 months forward. That's your Grants for Grads deadline.
Check both income tables for your county on the income limits page.
Get your offer letter or contract signed and non-contingent before you apply.
Ask an OHFA-approved lender to quote both programs on the same house.

Then check your eligibility to see how your job, income and county line up.

Reader questions

Can I use Grants for Grads and Ohio Heroes together?

OHFA does not say they can be combined, and its program-combination graphics don't show them together. Treat it as a choice and have a lender price both.

How long after graduation can I use Grants for Grads?

Within 18 months of earning an associate, bachelor's, master's, doctorate or other post-graduate degree from an accredited school.

What happens to Grants for Grads assistance if I move out of Ohio?

Its five-year forgiveness depends on staying in Ohio. If you leave before five years, expect to repay. Confirm the exact terms in your closing documents.

Can I buy a house before my teaching job starts?

Possibly. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both allow a signed, non-contingent contract with a start date within 90 days after closing, with cash reserves. FHA has no offer-letter rule.

How do lenders count a 10-month teacher salary?

Freddie Mac divides annual gross pay by 12. Other agencies' methods weren't confirmed, so your lender confirms how it calculates yours.

Free printable: the Ohio homebuyer paperwork checklist. Papers, steps, programs and lender questions in two printed pages. Get the sheet