Who Is Eligible for Student Loan Forgiveness?

Although it would be great if all loans were forgiven, there is, unfortunately, a limited answer to the question, “Who is eligible for student loan forgiveness?”

This form of student loan help has specific qualifications each borrower must fulfill.

These requirements usually depend on the career path they choose.

Find out if your chosen career qualifies.

(Bonus Tip: Want all the pros and cons of student loan forgiveness all in one easy and accessible spot? The Definitive Guide To Student Loan Forgiveness will go over each type of forgiveness program and weigh your options for you, so you don’t have to. Click here to get more info on the free guide.)

List of Who is Eligible for Student Loan Forgiveness

This post was originally by FinancialWellness.org and shared with permission

1. Nurse Forgiveness

Under the US Department of Health and Human Services, loan forgiveness programs are available through the National Health Service Corps and the Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program.

To qualify for their loan forgiveness programs, registered nurses should agree to work full-time.

Also, they need to render services for a given period of time in areas lacking adequate medical assistance.

The NHSC Loan Repayment Program entitles a nurse to a $50,000 loan forgiveness after a 2-year service at a site approved by the NHSC.

In addition, participants may opt to serve as primary care medical, mental health, and dental clinicians.

They also have the opportunity to serve more than 2 years if they wish to get more support for loan repayment.

2. Non-Profit Organization Employee Forgiveness

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program entitles all employees working in the following public services:

• public library services
• emergency management
• public safety
• public interest law services – this refers to the legal services offered by an organization funded by the tribal, local, federal, or state government.
• law enforcement – any organization publicly funded and with primary purposes of preventing crime, reduction or control of crime, or criminal law enforcement falls under this category.
• public service for the elderly
• public service for individuals with disabilities
• early childhood education – Head Start, regulated or licensed child care and pre-kindergarten funded by the state comprise the early childhood education.

In order to qualify for the program, the participant needs to render full working hours according to employer’s policies.

This is also equivalent to 30 hours per week.

However, Direct Loans or any other federal student loans is a qualification for this program.

(Pro Tip: Want an easy and fast way to find out if you qualify for student loan forgiveness? Download this free guide to find the best way you can take advantage of student loan forgiveness programs. Learn more here.)

Repayment should also be under one of the PSLF income-driven repayment plans which are as follows:

• Revised Pay As You Earn Repayment Plan (REPAYE Plan)
• Pay As You Earn Repayment Plan (PAYE Plan)
• Income-Based Repayment Plan (IBR Plan)
• Income-Contingent Repayment Plan (ICR Plan)

The number of qualifying payment is 120 which is equivalent to 10 years of payments.

This means you would need to make payments on or before the due date with the exact amount due for your payments to qualify.

Thus, to make sure you’re all set for the requirements of the program, you may choose to fill out and submit the Employment Certification Form as early and as often as possible.

3. Peace Corps or Americorps Volunteer Forgiveness

College grads looking for loan forgiveness –AmeriCorps, Teach for America and Peace Corps are worth a look#graduates#debt-free#loans pic.twitter.com/QRSqW9b9gi

— JackieTrust ALLSIDES (@JackieTrust21) May 15, 2017

This is one of the student loan forgiveness programs which are most accessible as it’s available to anyone interested and willing to volunteer in the Peace Corps.

However, the Loan Cancellation or Loan Forgiveness program of the Peace Corps is available to those with Perkins Loans.

But it qualifies in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program under the “qualifying employment” section.

Thus, it is good news to the volunteers with Perkins Loans as this means your loans have higher chances of being canceled completely and all remaining balance are wiped out.

Perkins Loan Holder

The cancellation program of Perkins Loans for the volunteers of Peace Corps has the following privileges:

• The Peace Corps loan forgiveness program for Perkins Loan holder entitles cancellation of up to 70% of the loan.
• A 15% loan cancellation privilege entitles a volunteer after completion of the first two years of service.
• For the 3^rd and 4^th years in the service, volunteers are qualified an added loan cancellation of 20% on top of the 15% after the first 2 years of service.

Want to see the full article?

Click here to read the full article on FinancialWellness.org

The limited number of careers eligible for student loan forgiveness is deeply related to the shortage of these jobs.

Moreover, the forgiveness offered for these types of jobs is proof of their importance.

Simply put, the nation will have a hard time standing on its own without these people.

If your chosen career path does not qualify, worry not.

There are many other ways to rid yourself of student loan debt.

Student loan forgiveness is just the beginning.

(Bonus Tip: Want all the pros and cons of student loan forgiveness all in one easy and accessible spot? The Definitive Guide To Student Loan Forgiveness will go over each type of forgiveness program and weigh your options for you, so you don’t have to. Click here to get more info on the free guide.)

What are your thoughts on student loan forgiveness? Let us know in the comments section below.

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