Student Loan Forgiveness Programs

[sunflower17]

Hello:

Does anyone know of any student loan forgiveness employers or programs?

I am trying to get rid of the remaining $87K on my student loans. Even though I pay $500-$1000 a month, it is a monster that will not stop growing. It is really a nightmare and I want to pay it off asap.

Any suggestions please?

Thanks

[Anonymous]

You are talking about the Loan Forgiveness for Public Service Employment. You must first find out what kind of student loans you have. Then get your eligible loans into the Federal Direct loan program by consolidating. Then choose an eligible repayment plan. Make the qualifying payments each month for 10 years while working in public-service full time. (you need to make sure your job qualifies as a goverment job or a 501(c)(3) non profit). Then apply for the loan forgiveness. For more information: http://www.equaljusticeworks.org/resource/ccraa

Remember if you are in the private sector you do not qualify.

[sunflower17]

hi thanks for the information. I currently have my loans consolidated with Sallie Mae, however I am thinking about switching to the DOE consolidation plan. tter? Sallie Mae seems to have a bad rep. Any advice on this?

thanks

[Anonymous]

I did my consolidation through the Dept of Ed.  I like it.  I have low interest, good terms, but my loan is only $41K vs your $87K, so my payments are $201.  I do not know the difference between Dept of Ed and Sallie Mae.  As far as debt forgiveness, I think it depends on what kind of job you have.  I am a teacher in Texas.  The Dept of Ed is going to forgive $21 K of my loan and the State of Texas is going to pick up some of the cost, but that is because I got my degree in Texas. 

Good luck. 

[Anonymous]

I just re-consolidated my (colossal) federal loans from both undergrad and law school with DOE to hopefully take advantage of the public service loan forgiveness program.  I used to have loans with them before going to law school and initially consolidating with my other lender and my experience with them was wonderful.  My experience consolidating with them this time around has not been great - it's taken almost 4 months and the customer service from both DOE and my lender has been, to be plain, awful.  However, I'm hoping it will be worth it in the end.  If you're planning on going into public service, it's definitely a good idea, especially if you don't expect to be making a high salary, as the income-based repayment plan still qualifies you for the loan forgiveness.

[Anonymous]

Hi

I just learned about this loan forgiveness program for those of us who work in the public sector.  Here's my situation:  I graduated 10 years ago with student loan debt of about $45,000.  My repayment amount was initially over $600 per month.  Since my first job only paid $18,000 per year, I was unable to afford a $600 per month payment so I was "forced" to consolidate my loans, which I did, resulting in a 30 year repayment term with $320 monthly payments.  Unfortunately, I consolidated just prior to student loan interest rates dropping so I got stuck with an 8.125% rate (since lowered to 7.125% for consistent payments).  Because I had consolidated, I am forever stuck with this ridiculously high interest rate. 

Anyway, my understanding of this loan forgiveness program is that you have to pay 10 years of your loan payments (120 total payments)--BUT--payment credit won't start until September of 2007.  If this is correct, then no one will be eligible for loan forgiveness until September of 2017????  Here's my question--I've made a few large payments on my loan since September 2007 totaling about $20,000.  That would equal approximately 5-6 years of payments (60-72 monthly) made in only 2 years.  Would this be taken into account so that I could qualify for loan forgiveness in only 4 or 5 more years?

Lastly, I realize I should probably know this information, but I don't, so here goes.  I no longer recall what type of loans, (e.g., Perkins, etc.) I initially received while in college (1994 - 1999).  I do know that I didn't take out any private loans.  Every year I filled out the FASFA and took whatever was available (I was 33 when I entered college).  Again, I consolidated in 2000 and my consolidation loan has been transferred to so many different lenders in the past 9 years I can barely keep up.  Therefore, while I'm fairly sure that my job qualifies me for this program, I have no idea if my loan type meets the qualification--especially since I've already consolidated.  I do recall that I had "subsidized" AND "unsubsidized" loans, but that's about it. 

ANY help and/or guidance would be greatly appreciated!  THANKS!