Student Loan Forgiveness
After my last post about Student Loans, I received a question asking for more in depth information about student loan forgiveness. I researched and found the following information. These are the careers that can possibly eliminate your student loans. If you decide to partake in one of these programs, make sure beforehand that you can use it towards loan forgiveness.
Military Forgiveness
Students who are in the Army National Guard may be eligible for their Student Loan Repayment Program, which offers up to $10,000.
Teaching Forgiveness
Students who become full-time teachers in an elementary or secondary school that serves students from low-income families can have a portion of their Perkins Loan forgiven under The National Defense Education Act. This program forgives 15% of your loan for the first and second years of teaching service, 20% for the third and fourth, and 30% for the fifth. Contact your school district’s administration to see which schools are eligible.
See also the US Department of Education’s pages on Cancellation/Deferment Options for Teachers and Cancellation for Childcare Providers, as well as the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Form.
The US Department of Education maintains a database of low-income schools eligible for teacher loan cancellation for Perkins and Stafford loans.
Legal and Medical Studies
Many law schools forgive the loans of students who serve in public interest or non-profit positions. For more information, contact Equal Justice Works.
The US Department of Health and Human Services offers loan forgiveness programs through the National Health Service Corps and the Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program. These programs offer loan forgiveness to physicians and registered nurses who agree to practice for a set number of years in areas that lack adequate medical care (including remote and/or economically depressed regions).
The US National Institutes of Health’s NIH Loan Repayment Programs repays up to $35,000/year of student loan debt for US citizens who are conducting clinical medical research.
The US Department of Agriculture’s Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP) offers loan forgiveness of $25,000 per year for three years for veterinarians who commit to work in a veterinary shortage area for three years. The application deadline is June 30.
Federal Agencies
The Federal Student Loan Repayment Program allows federal agencies to establish loan forgiveness programs to help recruit and retain employees. This is technically a loan repayment program and not a loan forgiveness program, as the agencies make payments directly to the loan holder and the payments represent taxable income to the employee. The agencies can repay up to $10,000 in Federal student loans per employee per calendar year, with a cumulative maximum of $60,000 per employee. Employees must agree to work for the agency for at least 3 years.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program
This program lets borrowers off the hook from their remaining student loan debt after 10 years of full-time employment in public service.
To be in the program, borrowers must be employed by the federal, state or local government; or any nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization; or work full-time for AmeriCorps or Peace Corps.
To qualify for loan forgiveness, the borrower must have made 120 payments during a decade as part of the Department of Education’s Direct Loan program.
But, if the payments fall short or the borrower stops working full time, then there is the same risk of being kicked out of the program, with no loan forgiveness.
I hope this information helps you further understand your options for eliminating student loans.
Information found on finaid.org and money.cnn.com
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