Who Qualifies For Student Loan Forgiveness After College

At what point are student loans forgiven after college?

Your student loan debt forgiveness can start, almost as soon as you graduate and get a job. This is especially, when your student loan is a federal student loan. Some jobs qualify for automatic student loan debt forgiveness.

With federal student loan, it is possible to have all your student debt forgiven. This is because there are programs in place set up to help you graduate college debt-free, based on your majors. But, not all college graduates know about them.

Awhile ago, I wrote about how to get your medical student loans forgiven in two years. Now, I will tell about what jobs are eligible for student loan forgiveness.

What Occupation Qualifies For Student Loan Forgiveness Programs

Here are some professions for student loan forgiveness:

1. Academia or Teaching Jobs

In the United States, there is an incentive to being a teacher in school and other education settings. One of the incentives is you get your student loan debt forgiven. A well-tailored student loan forgiveness program for college graduates who want to be a teacher is the TFLP- Teachers Forgiveness Program. This is a program which can forgive up to $17, 500 of your student loan debt.

How To Qualify For Teacher Loan Forgiveness

Here are the criteria for this student loan forgiveness program:

• Firstly, you must have been teaching for five years in a school or other educational settings. By five years here, this loan forgiveness program refers to academic years. Also, you have to be fully employed during the time requested.
• Secondly, you must be teaching in academic institutions which provide education to low income students. By low income students, I refer to elementary, high school or other academic organizations dedicated to teaching students from poor economic background.
• Thirdly, you are a qualified teacher with at least a bachelor’s degree and a state teacher’s certification.
• Fourthly, prior to applying for the loan forgiveness, your loan should have been made by the end of the required time of academic service.

To know whether your school qualifies as a low-income educational service, visit the TCLI directory- the Teachers Cancellation Low Income. Put the name of your school in the directory and see if your school qualifies.

If all criteria are met, you can visit Teacher Loan Forgiveness Application Form to download, print and fill the form. Your chance of getting the maximum amount of $17, 500 increases, if you are a Special Ed or STEM teacher to secondary school students. Otherwise, you will get up to $5000.

Finally, I feel it is worthwhile to mention another loan forgiveness program for people in the teaching profession. It is called Perkins Loan Teacher Cancellation. It has similar requirements as the TFLP. And, you can get 100% of your student loan debt cancelled.

2. Public Service Jobs

What is considered a public service job for loan forgiveness, dear reader?

Public service jobs include the United States Postal Service, Peace Corp, social work, non-profit and other public sector jobs. If you work in any of these public service jobs, you qualify for what is called a PSLF- Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

PSLF is a loan forgiveness program made specifically for workers who are in public service jobs. To qualify for this type of loan forgiveness after college, you have to make 120 qualifying monthly loan repayments. This is while working in a public service job for 10 years.

After 120 qualifying monthly loan repayment, your remaining loan debt is forgiven. Pretty cool, is it not?

To apply for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness for public service work, print out the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Form and fill it. Then, mail it to U.S. Department of Education, FedLoan Servicing, 
P.O. Box 69184, Harrisburg, PA 17106-9184.

Speaking of public service jobs, can police officers get their student loans forgiven by Public Service Forgiveness Program?

Absolutely. Police officers are considered to be public service. Therefore, they qualify for PSLF program. Also, this is regardless of whether the police officers are in the tribal, state or federal level.

3. Legal Professions

Lawyers can get loan forgiveness after law school.

With respect to law school graduates, there are three powerful law school loan forgiveness programs. They can help you reset your student debt to zero. These law school loan forgiveness programs are:

• Attorney Student Loan Repayment Program: Under this law school loan forgiveness program, you can qualify up to $6000 annually. However, your student debt has to be more than $10, 000 to qualify. Additionally, you have to work for the Department of Justice. If you meet these requirements, you can qualify up to a maximum of $60, 000 student debt loan forgiveness.
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness: As a law school graduate, you can qualify for this loan forgiveness program as a public defender. After 120 monthly loan repayment, the rest of your student loan is forgiven.
• John R. Justice Loan Assistance Program: In this program, you have to commit to serving as a public defender for three years. During this time period, you will qualify up to $10, 000 annually. And, a maximum of $60, 000 should you continue with it.

Right now, these are the most popular three programs for law school graduates. While the above are popular, there are other state law school loan repayment programs out there. I recommend you search for your state’s student loan forgiveness programs for law school graduates.

4. Healthcare Professions

Are healthcare workers eligible for loan forgiveness programs?

Yes, they are. In fact, healthcare jobs are eligible for student loans forgiveness. There is even a student loan forgiveness for medical assistants. It is called Perkins Loan Cancellation. This requires 5 years of service in a critical shortage area. Then, it can cancel 100% of your loan.

Equally important, this student loan forgiveness for healthcare workers is not for licensed medical assistants alone. It is for Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical or Vocational Nurses, Certified Nurse Aides and Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners. Usually, the healthcare loan forgiveness programs cross healthcare professions.

Do Nurses Qualify For Other Student Loan Forgiveness Programs?

Yes, they do. In fact, these are the loan forgiveness programs you are guaranteed to get as a nurse. This is if you met their requirements.

• Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program: The NCLRP can pay up to 85% of your nursing school loan debt. To qualify, you have to be an RN, ARNP or a nurse faculty. The only requirement is you get to work in a nurse shortage area or a qualifying nursing school for two years.
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness: The PSLF works for you, if you work in the government hospitals or with the military. And, the requirement is the same the ones mentioned in public service jobs.
• National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program: If you are in an NHSC-eligible primary care medical, dental, or mental/behavioral health discipline, you are eligible. However, this is for citizens. In this program, you get to work for two years in an NHSC approved site. During these two years, you will get $50, 000 for full time service or $25, 000 for part-time service.

As for medical doctors and other medical professionals, read how to get your medical student loans forgiven in two years for the programs which can get your medical school debt reduced to zero. Otherwise, keep reading on.

5. Federal Jobs

Federal government employees can get their student loan forgiven. According to U.S Office of Personnel Management, federal agencies make a $10, 000 annual payment on student debt of their federal employees. Each federal employee gets a maximum of $60, 000 paid toward his or her student loan debt.

This is called FSLRP- the Federal Government Service Loan Repayment Program. Amazing, is it not?

I recommend you consider working for the federal government, if you could. This is because government jobs can forgive student loans. You get to serve our beloved country, while it rewards your service with student loan repayment. Anyways, you are to work for the federal government for three years in order to qualify.

Additionally, federal employees qualify for PSLF- Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. This is because their job positions are public service. Again, PSLF requires you to pay 120 qualifying monthly loan repayments to get your student debt forgiven.

6. SEMA- Special Equipment Market Association Members

This is an organization which looks after the interests of automotive professionals. To qualify for its loan forgiveness program, you must be a U.S citizen. Then, be in a major leading to the automotive industry.

Besides these requirements, your student debt should not be less than $2000. Usually, the application deadline is March of every year. To apply, visit the SEMA Loan Forgiveness website.

What May Not Make You Eligible For Loan Forgiveness?

To qualify for a student loan forgiveness program, you have to met the requirements of the program. If not, it is going to be hard to get it. Here is what I mean.

In the event that the forgiveness program demands to be in a public service, you will not qualify for it as a private sector employee. Moreover, a loan forgiveness program which requires only American citizens to apply, will not be available to non-citizens. Finally, programs which demand a certain service time, will not accept graduates who will not put in the time.

For this reason, it is important to meet the requirements of each program before you apply. It will save you time and disappointment.

All things considered, I must warn you scam artists call and prey on people interested in loan forgiveness programs. It is important to realize student loan forgiveness programs do not ask for money to apply or qualify. Also, they will not call to ask for information related to bank account, credit card or finances. And lastly, they will not make promises to you.