Student Loan Forgiveness
For Teachers
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Student
loans are often necessary to finance a college education.
However, many teachers find it difficult to repay student
loans after graduation. A teacher's salary often will
not be adequate to pay living expenses and begin making
payments on student loans.
There are several programs that provide student loan
forgiveness for teachers. These programs will officially
"forgive" all or part of the loan amount, which means
that that amount does not have to be paid back.
Potential teachers often obtain Stafford and Perkins
loans as a means of financing college. Even these types
of loans can be forgiven in part, if not completely.
If you are a recent graduate or have already established
your teaching career, there are several options available
to you that can drastically reduce or completely eliminate
your student loan balances.
Student loan forgiveness for teachers may be possible
by working full-time in an elementary or secondary school
in low-income communities. It may be possible to cancel
your entire Perkins loan. Perkins loans are provided
by the individual college or university, so you will
need to contact the financial aid department of the
college you attended to get information on debt forgiveness
in regard to that particular institution.
Special education teachers, providers of early intervention
services for disabled children, choosing an area with
teacher shortages such as foreign languages, science,
or math, and bilingual teachers are also eligible for
student loan forgiveness for teachers. Head start teachers
can have up to 100 percent of their student loans eliminated
as well.
More information about student loan forgiveness programs
for teachers is available from the US
Department of Education.
Teachers can have loan payments deferred or portions
of their student loans eliminated by serving in a volunteer
capacity for organizations such as the Peace Corps and
Americorps.
Americorps
is a national service agency that assigns volunteers
to help in many areas of community service including
education. Participants receive an Education Award of
$4,725 for a year of full-time service, and is prorated
for part-time. Americorps Education Awards may be used
to repay a student loan made by a state agency, including
state institutions of higher education.
Peace
Corps volunteers may defer repayment on student
loans while serving and are eligible for a 15 percent
cancellation of their outstanding balance for each year
of Peace Corps service. Additional educational and financial
benefits are available.
Student loan forgiveness for teachers is an excellent
way to eliminate debt and concentrate on teaching rather
than constantly worrying about debt repayment.
Ed Fed Graduates qualify for up to 100% Loan Forgiveness
with EdFed.
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