Student Loan Forgiveness

Friday, February 1st, 2008

You may have thought it was impossible to have your student loans forgiven or canceled, but there are a couple ways to lighten that load of debt, especially if you have chosen the right career. While it is still true that filing for bankruptcy will do nothing in the way of making a student loan disappear, it is possible to shrink them by way of trading your time in a variety of different ways.

To qualify for student loan forgiveness you must be involved in volunteer work, serve in the military, teach in a designated school for low-income, special education students or be in the medical or legal field in addition to meeting other various requirements.

AmeriCorps, Peace Corps and Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) all provide some kind of loan forgiveness. By serving and/or donating time in these organizations and you can receive partial forgiveness of loans. The bulk of the work will be spent preforming worthwhile causes such as helping eradicate hunger, homelessness, poverty and illiteracy.

Military service also can be a qualification:

Students who are in the Army National Guard may be eligible for their Student Loan Repayment Program, which offers up to $10,000.

Portion of Perkins Loans can be forgiven under The National Defense Education Act if you are a teacher for students from low-income families. Through The National Defense Education Act, after 5 years of teaching as much as 30% of your loans can be canceled, but only certain schools are eligible.

If you are in the legal or medical fields you may also be eligible. Many law schools forgive the loans of students who serve in public interest or non-profit positions. The National Health Service Corps and the Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program are programs from the US Department of Health and Human Services that can give loan forgiveness. Again these depend on many different conditions.

In addition to the programs above, there a few other, less common, ways to become eligible for partial or total student loan discharge. In the unlikely event that your signature was forged on the student loan agreements and contracts, your loan can be forgiven. Alternately if you die or find yourself temporarily or permanently disabled, your student loans may be canceled.

Remember, loan forgiveness programs are almost always tied to certain professions and fields. Most of us are just out of luck. For more detailed, additional information about student loan forgiveness programs, visit FinAid.