If you are a teacher with large students loans, you may be able to get part or all of those loans forgiven, or cancelled. The Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program was set up to support people working in the education field.
If you qualify for the program, you could receive up to $17,500 in loan cancellations. This could mean the difference between remaining in the teaching profession, or having to change careers.
What is Loan Forgiveness?
It is the cancellation of all or some part of your remaining federal student loan balance. In that case, you are no longer responsible for repaying that remaining portion of the loan.
What are the types of programs and which loans may qualify?
– Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program – Direct Subsidized Loans, Direct Unsubsidized Loans, Subsidized Federal Stafford Loans, and Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans. If you only have PLUS loans, you are not eligible.
– Teacher Cancellation Program – Federal Perkins Loans
What are the Qualifications?
Your loans must be in good standing, and not in default. (Default is defined as the failure to repay a loan according to the terms agreed to in the promissory note. For federal loans, you will be in default if you have not made a payment in more than 270 days.)
You must teach full time for at least 5 years for the Forgiveness program or 1 year for the Cancellation program. This teaching time must be in schools that serve low-income families and/or meet other qualifications. The U.S. Department of Education publishes a list of low-income schools that qualify. (https://www.tcli.ed.gov/CBSWebApp/tcli/TCLIPubSchoolSearch.jsp)
You may also qualify if you are a “highly qualified” teacher, working in a Designated Subject Shortage Area, or teaching mathematics, science, or special education for children with disabilities. State Education agencies determine these subject area shortages annually. In addition, a full-time teacher in math, science, foreign languages or bilingual education may qualify for cancellation even if the state has not designated these are shortage areas.
Who is a “teacher” under this program?
A teacher is a person who provides direct classroom teaching, or classroom-type teaching in a non-classroom setting.
How do I apply for teacher loan forgiveness?
After completing the 5-year teaching requirement, you can fill out the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Application (http://ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/attachments/GEN1419AttachTeacherLoanForgivenessApp.pdf)
The certification section of the application must be filled out by the chief administrative officer at you school.
For the Teacher Loan Cancellation program, you should contact the office that administers the Federal Perkins Loan program at the school that holds your loan, and request the appropriate forms.
Where can I get more information?
This is just a very brief summary of the complex rules and regulations regarding the teacher loan forgiveness programs available to educators. Please note that there are significant differences in the the rules between the forgiveness and cancellation programs. For more information, visit the Federal Student Aid website of the U.S. Department of Education at https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/teacher