How to get student loan forgiveness | Top 10 ways!

Investing in yourself is one of the best investments you can ever make. When you invest in yourself, you improve your worth. This means that you appear to be valuable, especially to potential high-end employers and the best way to invest in yourself is to earn a degree. However, some students cannot pursue education due to financial constraints. This is where student loans and consequently, student loan forgiveness comes in.

Student loans are basically an amount of money that you borrow that will pay for your college expenses when pursuing education. Along with some of the other countries, Debt Stats in the USA show that even after hitting an all-time high in 2018 with a record of $1.44 trillion, student loans still continue to rise. This can be attributed to more people seeking higher education.

What are the different ways to get it?

Sometimes, those who opt for student loans are unable to pay them after they graduate. It may be that they still have no jobs, or the money they owe is too huge for them to be paid back immediately. If you are one of the fresh graduates in the USA who are unable to pay back their loans, here are some of the best ways to get student loan forgiveness:

Income-Based Repayment (IBR)

This type of loan forgiveness is one of the most common forgiveness options students switch to if they are having a financial crisis. It is because it regulates the amount that you need to pay as the regular payment based on your current income and family size. This is good for those who have to provide for their family’s needs while still paying the loan.

Pay As You Earn (PAYE)

Similar to IBR, Pay As You Earn (PAYE) regular payments are fixed to not more than 10% of your income. This might be a good option for those who have to provide for their day-to-day expenses. If you can make your payments on time, the span will only range for about 20 years.

Faculty Loan Repayment Program

If you are a qualified healthcare provider and you want to teach, you can avail of the faculty loan repayment program. This program helps by paying off your student loan in exchange for you becoming a faculty in your field of expertise. This is to improve the quality of education, especially for future generations.

Army College Loan Repayment Program

As the most generous among Military Student Loan Forgiveness options, the Army college loan repayment program will forgive your student loan if you are a highly qualified individual that will enlist in one of the critical military occupational specialities in the Army. However, it comes with a big catch. If you want to go back to college for higher education, this might not be for you.

National Health Service Corps

If you have a student loan and you are a qualified healthcare provider, then this type of program is for you. This type of corps offers loan repayment assistance that is tax-free to support those with healthcare practitioners who equip their skills and take them to where they are needed. The program may span up to two years.

Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program

You can avail of this program if you become a full-time teacher in a low-income school or any agencies that give educational service. You must teach for five complete and consecutive academic years before you can avail of this program. To be a recognized teacher, you must have a certificate received from your state as a teacher and a bachelor’s degree holder.

Student loan forgiveness for international students

If you’re an international student in USA looking for student loan forgiveness options, there are many avenues you could try. Based on your profile, scores, and other factors, there are several ways you can examine and research. While these options are certainly available for domestic students, international students can definitely consider

Employer-Based Student Loan Repayment Assistance Programs

This type of program forgives the loan of their employees as an employee benefit. This means that if your company wants you as their employee, they may offer student loan repayment assistance to get you to sign as their employee.

Sponsor Change

Sometimes, some programs are spearheaded by donors that lack the workforce. To garner assistance, this program allows graduates with existing student loans to volunteer at non-profit organizations. The graduate should help in terms of manpower and, in return, have the amount they owe be paid by donors and sponsors.

Income Contingent Repayment (ICR)

What is good about Income Contingent Repayment is that the monthly payments that you have to pay for your loan depend on your income, family size, and the sum of the amount borrowed. Such payments will also be adjusted annually if there are changes in your family size and annual income.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)

If you’re an employee in a government or non-profit organization, your loan may be forgiven under the PSLF. The qualification to avail such forgiveness is that you should have made 120 (10 years) monthly payments for a repayment plan while working full-time. If you are qualified, the rest of the balance will be forgiven. 

Takeaway

If you have assessed your financial capabilities, and it turns out that you cannot pay for your student loan, it might be wise to apply for a student loan forgiveness. With the many different ways to get a student loan forgiveness, decide on which direction you want to take that fits in with your financial capabilities, profile, and skills. Even if you’re an international student who wants to apply for student loan forgiveness, you should certainly consider all the options mentioned above. 

If you’re starting your student loan and financing research from scratch, you should definitely take a look at some of these helpful blogs such as the Beginners guide to student loan, Finance document checklist, List of Scholarships for international students, and so much more!