Dec 26th 2007, 17:13

Reduced or Forgiven Student Loans for Teachers and Professionals

Student Loan Repayment Assistance

Teachers who are having a hard time repaying their student loans can get their loans reduced or even forgiven in some special circumstances. Whether it is a Perkins Loan, Federal Family Education Loan, Direct Loan, or a loan from the school, the government may let teachers repay their loan at a smaller amount or even not repay it at all.

Teachers' loans can be forgiven in these situations:

• Borrower is working for a low-income school;
• Borrower is working in a teacher shortage subject area;
• The school that the borrower is working for has closed down;
• Borrower has a permanent and total disability; or
• The borrower died.

It's important to remember that loans cannot be discharged for the following reasons: if the borrower wasn't satisfied with the education that was offered, because the program wasn't completed, or because he/she didn't get a job after completing the program of study.

If you are a teacher and you have a Direct Loan, you can contact the Direct Loan Servicing Center through 1-800-848-0979 or 1-800-848-0983 for TTY users. You need to get in touch with your school if you got a Perkins Loan or a school loan. Lastly, if you have a Federal Family Education Loan, you need to contact the lender or agency that holds your loan.

Other professionals who still have school loan obligations can also get similar help. Medical professionals and nurses can contact the National Health Service Corps, while child care providers can learn more about available assistance from this online document: http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/attachments/siteresources/childcareinfo.pdf

To know more about repaying your student loan, go to: http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/repaying.jsp?tab=repaying

 

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