Research has found that it takes approximately 12 years for a student to pay their student loan debts. However, the system offers a public student loan forgiveness program that allows you not to pay your loan. Making every student’s situation easier, Student Loans Resolved comes in with accessible alternatives and other tips & tricks that can come in handy.
Furthermore, we are going to discuss the meaning of student loan forgiveness programs, how to apply and ultimately why it is so hard to obtain.
Persuading a bachelor’s degree and having a college carrier is every student’s dream when they finish high school, but the applying form is not the only important thing that they should worry. Giving the economic situation and the faults of the education system in the United States of America, more than 70% of high school graduates need to apply for a college loan every year. College loans can go up to 20,000 dollars per semester if we are talking about an Ivy League College but even so, the least someone can pay is around 10,000 dollars. Therefore, even an honor roll student can easily be in debt because of their student loan.
Student Loan Forgiveness Program
The Student Loan Forgiveness Program was issued by President George W. Bush in 2007 to stimulate college graduates into pursuing public service jobs. A lot of people made their career choices based on this program and now, giving the low acceptance rates, the situation is somewhat concerning.
What does forgiveness mean in this kind of circumstances? If you get a federally funded job that means you are not required to pay your loan anymore. However, there is a glitch to it. The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program forgives federal student loans beneficiaries that are employed in a full-time job, working 30+ hours per week in a trusted federal public service, state or local institution or in a non-profit organization averaging 120 payments made on time.
Data shows that only 1% of approximately 50,000 people are qualified for this program. In America, there are 30 million eligible people for this program. By 30th September, 423 applications got the green light out of the total number, and only 206 persons received debt forgiveness.
The Public Sevice Loan Forgiveness Program is requiring a public service job, and a filled out Employment Form and a subscription to a federal student loan pay-back plan.
The Employment Certification Form
When applying for student loan forgiveness, you must complete this form at the beginning of a public service job, when switching employees and, to make sure everything is going smoothly with your application, renew it every year.
As a reminder, 28% of the applicants sent an incorrectly completed certification application and this is one of the rejection’s leading causes. Because of this, the Department allows denied borrowers to resubmit a newly completed form.
The Employment Certification Form is also an excellent way to keep track of your working background. It helps you keep your payments on file and backing them up, your employment history. Filing this document annually, you will be more relaxed when it comes to the Public Student Loan Forgiveness Application, the two papers showing some similarities. Lastly, by completing this form, you can be part of the caucus protecting this program.
Income-driven federal student loan repayment plan
Enrolling in a plan like this makes you eligible for student loan forgiveness if you have a federal student loan. If you are enrolled in a repayment plan, the required payments have to reach 120. You can choose the right plan for you by using a forgiveness loan calculator that can maximize your benefits.
Federal student loan borrowers can have a more accessible and more simple experience when repaying their loans if they are opting for an income-driven repayment plan and the debt is higher than the income. Income-driven loan repayment plans can vary based on salary, number of family members, address and the type of federal student loan they opted for. These are the following main types of programs:
- Debt Repayment Based on Income
- Paying the loan as you earn money while employed
- Reduced Monthly Loan Payment Program
- Adjusted Monthly Payments Program
The first step for a repayment plan is completing an Income-Driven Pay Back Plan application form on StudentLoans.gov by providing the correct, specific information.
As a reminder, like the Employment Certification Form, the student loan repayment plan needs to be renewed every year to keep your eligibility and to maintain your payments at the lowest rate.
In addition to these requirements, consolidating your federal loan and refinancing your private loan can help you meet the application conditions. Consolidating loans is also considered as a reorganization method and payment tracker that helps you pay your mortgage faster. At Student Loans Resolved, we offer free assessments, giving you all the needed information about PSLF Progam.
A great topic that gets left out most of the times is the payment problem.
The program requirements state that you should make 120 consecutive payments to get discharged from the loan. This is means around ten years of payments made continuously. Most people ignore this fact, and this results in an incorrect application. For example, if you started working in 2010 but you will take a one-year break, in 2020 you will still have some remaining payments. Therefore you will be denied. For more on repayment plans, visit us here.
Latest Changes
Since 2017, when President Donald Trump came into office, student loan legislation and the Student Loan Forgiveness Program went through some changes.
While simplifying the repayment options, the borrowers would have more time to pay for their loans, undergraduates having their loans forgiven after 15 years of monthly payments and graduate students after 30 years. What makes this process easier is the fact that borrowers would no longer need to choose which repayment plan fits them better. On the other hand, the effective elimination of the Student Loan Forgiveness Program would start 1st of July 2020. Therefore, if this budget will pass, people are advised to take action while they can by learning about the program and understanding its requirements.
Despite the low statistics numbers, 72% of the total amount is denied because of not meeting the criteria and 27% because of incorrect paperwork. The Education Department urges people to study the requirements carefully, and it shows, 206 borrowers, receiving more than 12 million dollars all together only in the last year. Even though the program seems complicated and the requirements hard to obtain, following these simple steps and seeking professional and trusted help if needed, can put anyone on the right track and become a part of the increasing overall acceptance percentage.
Student Loan Resolved offers practical solutions and counseling in the shortest time possible, making you a part of the 1% mentioned earlier. Explaining the PSLF Program and many others in an easy-going, understanding approach, we can help you come closer to your academic goals in a safe economic environment. Call us today!
With this said, we can now understand why so many people fail to meet the criteria for the Public Student Loan Forgiveness Program and how we should act on it. From thoroughly checking and renewing the application form and other documents to keeping payments in check and updating or consolidating our federal loans, acceptance into this program is closer than it seems.
