Author: Oliver Brown
The United States Department of Education offers certain forgiveness for federal student loans. You may be qualified to have part or all of your loans forgiven in certain circumstances.Â
Eligibility for federal student loan forgiveness is based on your credentials; like your professional path.
Let’s go through some of the student loan forgiveness options and how to apply for them.
What is Student Loan Forgiveness?
Forgiveness occurs when you are no longer required to make loan installments due to your employment. Debt forgiveness means that you are no longer required to repay part or all of your debt.
Income-Driven Repayment Forgiveness
If you are unable to make payments during the 10-year payback plan, you may be eligible for repayment plan forgiveness. As an eligible borrower, you should enroll in an IDR plan, where your monthly premium will be calculated by the size of your family and income.
Also, you may be eligible for a substantially lower monthly payment based on your circumstances. Depending on the plan you select, your payback duration might be 20 or 25 years.Â
If you owe money at the conclusion of the repayment period, the debt may be forgiven. But note that the sum of the canceled loan may be taxed as income.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness
Public Service Loan Forgiveness is available to government and qualifying nonprofit employees with federal studeent loan debt. Eligible borrowers can have their outstanding loan debt forgiven tax-free after making 120 qualifying loan payments.
The Education Department has expanded the federal student loan payments count toward PSLF, under a temporary waiver that runs until Oct. 31, 2022. Presently, payments on FFEL and Perkins loans, late payments, and payments made on any repayment plan will count as eligible payments retrospectively.
Teacher Loan Forgiveness
Teachers working full-time in low-income public elementary or secondary schools may be eligible for Teacher Loan Forgiveness after five years of service. They can have up to $17,500 forgiven in federal direct or Stafford loans. To be eligible, instructors must have taken out loans after October 1, 1998.
How to Apply For Forgiveness
Contact your loan servicer if you think you qualify. If you have a Perkins Loan, you should contact the school that made the loan or the loan servicer the school designated.
For each application program, there are different types of applications.
- To apply, you need to fill out an Income-Driven Repayment Plan Request. You can submit your application online or physically to your loan servicer.
- Â To apply for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, you need to fill out and submit the (PSLF) & Temporary Expanded PSLF (TEPSLF) Certification & Application (PSLF form).
- After you have made a minimum of five consecutive years of qualified teaching, you can apply for teacher debt forgiveness by submitting a completed Teacher Loan Forgiveness Application to your loan servicer.
Conclusion
All student loan forgiveness schemes include caveats, requirements, and restrictions. To qualify, you must follow the guidelines. If you are bombarded with debt from a student loan, loan forgiveness might be a way to ease yourself.Â
Also, student debt forgiveness may be a pleasant option for student borrowers nearing the end of their repayment tenure.
