You can find many different federal student loan forgiveness or discharge programs out there for people who work in public service, health care, education, and other areas. Another advantage is that there may be some situations where you may qualify to have your loans, or you may be eligible for any of the Federal Student Loan Discharge Programs. As of 2019, we have never had so much access to so many different types of programs which offer relief from federal student loan debt. Generally, almost everyone who has ever taken out a federal student loan will qualify for some amount of forgiveness through several Federal Student Loan Discharge Programs on offer.
The indifference with other student loans, Federal Student Loans offer some benefits such as the ability to qualify for loan forgiveness. For instance, under special circumstances, the federal government may forgive part or all of your federal student loans which means you are no longer obligated to make your loan payments.
It depends on your employment and is based on how valuable your job is to society. We will look through some of the most popular and top-rated Federal Student Loan Discharge Programs in this article. Based on the following evaluation you can check for your eligibility and whether you could be qualified or not.
Before jumping into the details
Before applying any of these programs, keep in mind that there is only one way to guarantee to get the maximum amount of loan forgiveness. Do not hesitate to pay some to experts for their help. Because there are many various programs, application, laws, eligibility requirements, and rules for Federal student loan discharge benefits, that is why you will need help from professional advisors.
It virtually means that no one can figure it all out on their own, at least not quickly. To make sure about you get access to the benefits you deserve, we recommend that calling professionals to get the advice you on your best option for eliminating your debts.
2019’s Top-Rated Federal Student Loan Discharge Programs
Despite there a range of different federal student loan forgiveness programs, here are the most popular five ones of them.
1. The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF)
PSLF is one of the most well-known types among various programs because it gives 100% loan forgiveness with no tax liabilities. Besides, it is accessible to anyone who serves in a field which counts as “Public service” that is a pretty loose definition. The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program offers complete student loan discharge once you have made 10 years (120 ) monthly payments on your debt. It means that this is twice as fast as the standard Obama loan forgiveness plans which will be explained below. PSLF benefits are available for anyone who works full time in one of these positions.
Non-profit organization employees, public school teachers, military personnel, public health service workers, public service volunteers, government employees, public interest law services workers, etc.
2. Obama Loan Forgiveness (via PAYE)
On October 2001, President Obama promised to start significant reforms to Federal loan debt laws. These reforms include massive rearrangement of the existing federal forgiveness programs and the introduction of Pay As You Earn (PAYE), a new federal student loan repayment plan.
Anyone who borrowed federal loans after October 1st, 2007 could qualify for the Obama Loan Forgiveness program. PAYE program is new income-based federal student loan repayment plan which limits monthly payments to just 10% of discretionary income. And it provides complete loan discharge once borrowers have made 20 years worth of monthly payments, regardless of how much amount they still owe.
3. Nursing student loan forgiveness programs (NSLF)
Another popular type of Federal Student Loan Discharge Programs is Nursing student loan forgiveness which has been in place for several years. Currently, the Federal Government continues to provide at least three different avenues for NSLF which includes the
Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program (NHSC)
Perkins Loan Discharge and Loan Cancellation for Nurses
Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.
If you have in your mind to become a nurse, or you already work as a nurse, the great news is that you can have access to some of the best federal student loan discharge benefits available to anyone.
4. The Perkins Loan Forgiveness Program
This program provides low-interest rate loans to students who need financial assistance. The Perkins Loan Forgiveness Program was created to help economically underprivileged students obtain financing assistance to cover the costs of postsecondary education. The recipients of this program, also, have to file a Perkins promissory note to be eligible to receive the student loan. The Perkins Loan Forgiveness Program allows its recipients to receive 15% loan discharge for first and second years of full-time teaching, 20 % for third and fourth years, and 30% for their fifth year of service.
5. Military Loan Forgiveness Programs
Military personnel can take the benefit of Federal Student Loan Discharge through Military Loan Forgiveness Program with options for using programs like the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (because they qualify for as Military Personnel or Government Employees). The tricky part of military forgiveness benefit is that they are different for members of various service branch with the Army, Air Force, National Guard, Navy. All of them offer completely different programs of their own with wildly various benefits, requirements and eligibility conditions.
6. Closed School Student Loan Discharges
One of the most convenient way to qualify for Federal Student loan forgiveness benefits is using the Closed School Student Loan Discharge Program. This program allows you to apply for forgiveness if you attended a school which shut down before you could finish your degree program.
The perfect news is that Closed School Discharges are extremely powerful, and it is not so hard to qualify for it. On the other hand, the limiting factor of them is that the vast majority of people will not be able to use them because you had to be attending a school which shut down. But if you are one of the luckiest souls who has attended a school which recently shut down, then you have an excellent chance for a big reward. Because it is possible that you will get the rest of your loans discharged. In some special cases, even you may qualify for a refund on the amount of money you have already paid the school back.
Closed School Loan Discharge is one of the best discharge programs, try to benefit from it.
7. The Borrower’s Defense to Repayment Program (BDAR)
If you think you have not qualified for any of the Federal Student Loan Discharge Programs mentioned earlier, then it is too early to despair yet. Because there is a final option, you have got - The BDR, which allows you to challenge the legal validity of your loans. Unfortunately, there are so many applications which have been submitted to Borrower’s Defense to Repayment. That is why the U.S. Department of Education is overwhelmed by them so it may take a long time to get approvement about Student Loan Discharge.
Final notification
It worth to notify that scam artists have long been aware of all these attractive student loan discharge and forgiveness programs. And they are doing everything to trick borrowers out of their hard-earned money. If you are contacted via the phone, email or even a written letter which attempting to get you to sign up for one of their forgiveness programs, you must be extremely cautious before giving them any personal information. Pay attention and do your research on each of these Federal Student Loan Discharge Programs, learn your eligibility and apply to get student loan discharge.
