If you have been struggling to pay back your student loan and the interest has been piling up, don’t worry. Applying for student loan forgiveness is a viable solution for students who find it challenging to repay their loans by the deadline. This is where student loan forgiveness comes in handy.
Though the Supreme Court ruled out President Joe Biden’s student loan relief plan in the year 2023, some borrowers have other avenues for loan forgiveness. In this article, you will learn all you need to know about how to apply for student loan forgiveness.
Who Is Eligible for Student Loan Forgiveness?
Each program for student loan forgiveness has different eligibility requirements. The lists below are the criteria for a few popular options:
Teacher Loan Forgiveness
This program requires teaching full-time for 5 years in a low-income school or educational service agency. Depending on your field of teaching, you may be eligible for up to about $17,500 in student loan forgiveness.
IDR loan forgiveness
You may be eligible for student loan forgiveness after 20 or 25 years of consistent payments through an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan.
PSLF
To qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), you must work full-time for 10 years in a qualifying organization. This includes a government agency or 501(c) not-for-profit. Additionally, you must make 120 qualifying payments on your student loans while on an Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plan.
Nurse Corps Loan Forgiveness
This program offers up to 85% student loan forgiveness over three years. Eligibility requires working as a registered nurse, nurse practitioner, or nurse faculty member in a critical shortage area that serves a high-need population. Only federal student loans qualify for federal loan forgiveness programs, but eligibility requirements vary by program.
The requirement needed for student loan forgiveness
The Biden administration’s plan to offer widespread loan cancellation to eligible borrowers is currently on hold until a decision is made by the Supreme Court.
If the Supreme Court rules in favor of loan forgiveness, those who have already applied may not need to take further action. The Education Department may already have your income information if you recently applied for an income-driven repayment plan. The lists below are the simple and easy applications that will be asked from you:
- Full Name.
- Date of Birth.
- Phone Number.
- Social Security Number.
- Email Address.
It is available in both Spanish and English, and you will also be asked to type your electronic signature and check a box certifying “under the penalty of perjury” that the information you offered is true before submitting it.
How to apply for student loan forgiveness in four steps
Are you looking for a way to qualify and apply for student loan forgiveness? Taking the four (4) steps below will get you well on the way.
Assess your student loans
It is very important to note that student loan forgiveness only applies to specific types of federal student loans. For most borrowers, the most likely method to have their loans forgiven is through Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). If you have Federal Direct loans and work for a public employer, like a public school, county hospital, or any other government job, you may be eligible for PSLF. Some nonprofit jobs may be eligible for this program. Complete an employment certification form and review it with your servicer to confirm your eligibility.
Begin the student loan forgiveness application process
Collaborate with your servicer to identify the appropriate application, complete it accurately, and verify your employment eligibility for student loan forgiveness.
For Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), you must make 120 on-time payments while working for a qualifying employer. This means you need to make on-time payments for 10 years before you are eligible for loan forgiveness. Working for a qualifying low-income school for five consecutive academic years is necessary for TLF. If you are a teacher, the five academic years do not count towards the 120 payments. Therefore, you may want to skip TLF if you qualify for both programs.
Continue making payments as scheduled
Do not assume your loan balance is forgiven after 120 payments. Keep making payments until your loan servicer confirms forgiveness. It’s important to make timely payments on your loans to avoid damaging your credit score and disrupting your plans for loan forgiveness. If you have only made 119 monthly payments, or if your loan servicer determines that your employer is not eligible, stopping your loan payments could be a costly mistake. You can always check your loan servicer’s website for the most up-to-date information regarding your loan balance and payments.
Confirm that your loans are forgiven
To complete the process of getting your balance forgiven, you must follow the instructions provided by your loan servicer and submit any remaining documentation required. Once your application is processed and approved, you should get a confirmation letter stating that your loans have been forgiven. You must keep this confirmation and any other documentation for your records.
It is important to note that your loans will only be forgiven once you see the forgiveness reflected on your student loan statement. Therefore, keep paying your payments until you receive a statement showing that no more payments are required.
Final Thought
Applying for student loan forgiveness can be a time-consuming task, but it is worth it if you are successful. However, with numerous forgiveness programs available and their requirements changing over time, it can be difficult to determine which program is the best fit for you. Our team of student loan specialists keeps up-to-date with all federal forgiveness programs and can guide you as you begin the process. We can help you understand what paths to student loan forgiveness are available to you and assist you with applying to different federal programs.
