You finally finished grad school and find your first job. Everything is going great and then you get your first student loan payment. Womp Womp. Educators are certainly pretty low on the salary totem pole and yet we are required as school counselors to hold a masters degree. Luckily, there are a few programs that might help you out.
Before we get started, you need to know what type of loans you have: private, federal, Perkins, Stafford, etc. It's also helpful to know how many payments you've made and whether you school is classified as a low-income school.
Before we get started, you need to know what type of loans you have: private, federal, Perkins, Stafford, etc. It's also helpful to know how many payments you've made and whether you school is classified as a low-income school.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness is probably the most well known loan forgiveness program. In this program, you make 120 payments on your loan and then the remaining balance is forgiven. It covers a broad range of loan types and is especially good for people who couldn't make their full loan payments and participated in something like anIncome-Based Plan (a plan where you make smaller payments capped at 10-15% of your income) so that they have a balance after 10 years. This program is available for public employees and 501(c)(3) non-profit employees.
Teacher Cancellation
The teacher cancellation program is for those who have Perkins Loans (for low income students). All kinds of school personnel, including school counselors, can have their loans cancelled through this program. The program cancels a portion of your loan for each year that you work in a low-income school or a non-profit private school, up to 100 percent.
- 15 percent canceled per year for the first and second years of service
- 20 percent canceled for the third and fourth years
- 30 percent canceled for the fifth year
Teacher Loan Forgiveness
Teacher Loan Forgiveness does not include school counselors in their definition of teacher (oh, politics), however, I am including in case you might have been a teacher before you became a school counselor. There are parameters on the type of loan you can have and the years that you received the loan but can add up to $17,500 in loans cancelled. You can check out the website here.
So there it is! Rules and availability of funds change quickly so make sure to check out studentaid.ed.gov for the latest. If it seems overwhelming, it can be helpful to contact the Student Aid number, email, or chat to talk about your situation. I have heard that they are very helpful!
Good luck in your pursuit of student loan peace and...
Good luck in your pursuit of student loan peace and...
