What is loan forgiveness? It is the cancellation of all or some portion of your remaining federal student loan balance. If your loan is forgiven, you are no longer responsible for repaying that remaining portion of the loan.
Do you qualify....
Depending on your teaching or public service position, you may be eligible to get some or all of your student loans forgiven. There are two different possibilities; the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program (PSLF) or the Teacher Loan Forgiveness program. Each has different qualifications and loan forgiveness amounts.
For the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, a person must be on a specific income-based repayment plan, have a certain amount of loan debt and have your working years certified by your employer. In this program, you have to make 120 qualiifing payments (10 years) and then the remainder of the loan will be forgiven. Need more information?
For the Teacher Loan Forgiveness program, after working 5 complete and consecutive years in certain schools that serve low-income families, you are eligible to have up to $17,500 of your loan forgiven. Need more information?
Be wary of companies who charge upfront or monthly fees to help you fill out paperwork. They may be legit or may not. There are many federal service agencies that will assist you in completing the proper paperwork for free.
Need assistance paying for your loans? Resources on how to re-pay for your federal loans, click here.