Rewarded for Your Commitment
Learn how this loan forgiveness program rewards teachers by cancelling student loan debt.
Author: Beneisha Williams
Learn how this loan forgiveness program rewards teachers by cancelling student loan debt.
Author: Beneisha Williams
So you want to become a teacher, but like every other student, you’re concerned about the cost of education. If you need to take out student loans, you could have them canceled after 10 years of teaching.
If you’re ready to begin a teaching program, you may be worried about the cost. When you apply for financial aid through your program and other sources, you’ll likely qualify for grants, scholarships, and other free money. Although grants and scholarships are extremely beneficial, not all the time do they cover the full cost of tuition. Because of this many students have to take out loans to cover the full or remaining cost.
The good news for public school teachers is this: With some pre-planning, you can get a chunk of your student loans cancelled. We’ll fill you in on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program (known as the PSLF).
We love that you’re becoming a teacher. We love it so much that we’re offering a limited number of $1,000 scholarships to educator preparation program applicants. Apply here.
PSLF, also known as Public Service Loan Forgiveness, was created to encourage people to take jobs in public service, such as teaching in public schools. It is a government funded loan forgiveness program that cancels the student loans of public servants (this includes teachers) after they have worked in public service for 10 years and made 120 on time student loan payments.
You probably view the ten year payment window as a long time. As far as careers go, it’s long enough to be considered a commitment. And that is what the PSLF program does—rewards your commitment to public service.
Here’s some good news! The PSLF requires you to work full time in public service jobs. Teaching counts, and so do other positions, like school counselor, assistant principal, or even jobs in education nonprofits. So you can continue to advance your career the whole time. And, although you need to make 120 payments, you can literally pay the lowest possible amount and still qualify for loan forgiveness.
This means you can use the income-driven repayment plan provided by most direct student loan lenders. Using the income driven plan is a great way to not fall behind by getting a monthly payment that is affordable according to your income.
The PSLF program describes a public servant as anyone who works directly for a public or nonprofit agency (private schools may not qualify). Lucky for you, this includes teaching, counseling, and other careers in education. In order to qualify for this program you must be working in public service for at least ten years. However the ten year duration of teaching does not have to be ongoing. If you happen to stop teaching and start again later, those previous years can still be counted towards your loan forgiveness.
Once you have made the 120 payments, you may apply for PSLF by visiting the Federal Student Aid website and filling out the required paperwork. If you happen to need help along the way, they have provided a great PSLF help tool to assist you with the process.
Currently the PSLF program forgives all direct student loans. This includes:
This does NOT include private loans from:
The short answer is, if payments are suspended or your required payment is $0, that counts as a payment! When loans are in deferment, such as when you go back to school, those months won’t count. But they don’t disqualify you either.
PSLF also honors time spent in the Military and AmeriCorps. All months spent on active duty can be counted towards loan forgiveness. This benefit helps to relieve service members of the stress of worrying with student loan obligations.
We know choosing a school, finding a teacher prep program, and figuring out how to pay for everything can be a lot to wrap your head around, but no worries, we are here to help. Our TEACH coaches are veteran teachers with loads of knowledge and insight. They can help guide you through the process from start to finish. Schedule a call today for more information.