Have you heard about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program for student loans?

[arkadofbabylon.org]

Hi Wisebread Community!

Since this is the field in which I work, I figured I'd post some links to the latest information I have on the new Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. If you work in a public service field and still find yourself trying to figure out how to pay back all your student loans, you may want to give this program a look.

Granted, it's still a bit confusing since the details don't seem to be completely hammered out, but it's worth investigating to see if it might be right for you.

http://www.nasfaa.org/publications/2...lic121807.html

http://ibrinfo.org/

http://www.finaid.org/loans/publicservice.phtml


I know this program has many, many, MANY, details to absorb -- but you never know, maybe it can help you or someone you love reduce their college loan burden.

Good luck!!

[Dani]

I'm in the APLE loan repayment, and then once they've paid my 4 years, I can apply for this one to get the balance wiped out. I recommend APLE to any teachers, as I don't know of a single person who's been turned down. It doesn't matter if you're a homeowner, etc., as long as you teach in a critical area.

[Ginger]

Thanks I may have to look into this... mama has debt to pay DOWN!

[Rebecca]

Yes this was actually talked about in an older thread...there are some hoops to go through, and depending on whether you've consolidated previously will determine when you can sell your loans back to Direct Loans and when the 10 year period will toll. For me, it won't be until Oct, so the 9 years I already have in public service won't count

But at least it'll start counting here on out!!!!!!

[arkadofbabylon.org]

Sorry I missed the earlier thread, but I definately feel ya!

I've worked in the ol' 'public service' field for about 6 years. Too bad they can't "grandfather" us into the program -- DRAT! But hopefully this program, despite its many flaws, will help the legions of people dedicated to good works (that follow in our footsteps) pay off their school loans.

Cheers!

[ajeh]

Two weeks ago, an employee of Equal Justice Works visited my school and shared the new information. It's not a perfect system but it's better than the previous alternatives. Before the EJW presentation, I was a little hesitant about taking a public interest job. Now, not so much.

ETA: All of my graduate school loans are direct so I'm in the clear there.

If eligible, I plan on participating in both the IBR and the loan forgiveness program. According to the EJW presenter, you do not have to stay on IBR, you can switch over to standard anytime and they will calculate your payment as if you had chosen the standard option initially. Sounds good, we'll see how it works.

[Finally_Frugal]

I checked this out online, and it will be something to look into when all the details are hammered out. The bummer is the requirement to make 120 on time payments before forgiveness. But if someone has a fair amount of student loan debt (mine = over 50K) and a relatively low salary (pehaps someone who works in education, like me) then it sounds like a good deal.

I also found some more information about the new income contingent payment plan, which may be helpful for those of us with lower salaries.