Student Loan Forgiveness

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bengal22
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Joined: Sat Dec 03, 2011 5:20 pm
Location: Ohio

Student Loan Forgiveness

Post by bengal22 »

My son is a public school teacher with a large student loan that he will need to pay off starting soon. He has been told of programs that after a period of payment actually forgives the loan. I googled them and one is for school teachers and such and another is for low income(i.e. public teacher). Has anyone had experience with these programs? Is it simple to fill out the paper work. Any direction would be appreciated.
"Earn All You Can; Give All You Can; Save All You Can." .... John Wesley
jpelder
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Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2015 2:56 pm
Location: Concord, NC

Re: Student Loan Forgiveness

Post by jpelder »

The application looks like it's about 8 pages. The main caveat is that he'll have to teach a total of 5 years in a Title 1 school (not just any public school). It looks like special education, science, and math teachers can get up to $17,500 forgiven on Stafford, subsidized, and unsubsidized loans, while other subjects can get up to $5,500 forgiven (including accrued interest). Perkins Loans can be forgiven completely.
Source: I'm a teacher at a title 1 school (no student loans, though).

Here's the website with a comprehensive list of questions and answers.
https://studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/f ... on/teacher
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bengal22
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Location: Ohio

Re: Student Loan Forgiveness

Post by bengal22 »

Thanks, He is actually teaching at a Title One School and he does intervention for students with special needs. That would help him a bunch. Thanks for the reply. They wanted to charge $2000 to help him process the paperwork so we will do ourselves.
"Earn All You Can; Give All You Can; Save All You Can." .... John Wesley
js2012
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Joined: Tue Dec 25, 2012 4:13 pm

Re: Student Loan Forgiveness

Post by js2012 »

I actually went through the program and can confirm that it works, provided you follow the rules (when I was going through the process and googled information about it, I stumbled on a forum of disgruntled people who were denied because they didn't meet a requirement).

It was easy and the paperwork went through pretty quickly (a few months) and it was a huge load off my shoulders.
guardianangel
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Re: Student Loan Forgiveness

Post by guardianangel »

It is great to use the student loan forgiveness program but it usually involves a commitment of a certain amount of time at that particular job. If, for some reason your son needs to leave that position, the loans will be due. So it is always a good idea to try to set aside the payments in an emergency fund at least for awhile to make sure he will be able to see it through.
js2012
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Joined: Tue Dec 25, 2012 4:13 pm

Re: Student Loan Forgiveness

Post by js2012 »

Actually, the program doesn't require a commitment beforehand. You continue making your loan payments as usual, you don't have to sign up for anything. After you complete the five years in a Title I school, you have letters signed by the principal and fill out the application and mail it out.

There aren't any downsides that I can see. If the school isn't a right fit, you probably don't want to stick around for five years anyway since you would have tenure and you'd have to start all over again through the tenure process. Or, let's say you don't like teaching and leave, you're loans don't come due or anything like that. You just need to keep paying them.

I guess the only downside is if the program goes away, but I think that's an obvious one here. Otherwise, all good things here.
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