Careers That Can Help You Pay Off Your Student Loans
When you first started to attend school, did you think that you would be caught in the middle of avoiding your bills and paying off your student loans? Most college students do not think about this, but they quickly learn the truth once they graduate.
Student loan debt is a serious problem these days and one that can leave you financially strapped for many years to come. When you choose your career path, you want to choose one that you love, but you also want to choose one that will allow you to experience financial freedom at the same time.
Below, we will go over some careers that offer student loan payback options and also careers where your salary is enough to cover your student loan debt. We hope this article will help guide you when it comes to choosing the right career and paying down your student loan debt.
Careers with Student Loan Pay Off Benefits
There are many different career choices out there from being a veterinarian to being a marketing specialist in a high-rise building, but, is the career worth the debt you may go into before you actually start to make any money?
These careers below are ones that have a program or two where you can pay back your student loans easily through a specialized loan pay off program or a loan forgiveness program.
1. Public Service Worker
Public service workers are able to apply for student loan forgiveness once they have served a required amount of time in their capacity. The career options available to you under the public service worker title are vast including social workers, military, law enforcement, and more.
Typically, the public service workers will need to work in an area that is considered in need, low income, or similar. Once you have served your term, you can apply for loan forgiveness and your student loan will be eliminated in part or full.
2. Teacher
If you have thought about becoming a teacher, it may be a good idea to think about serving as a teacher in an area that is considered low income by the federal government. These school always need teachers and you will find that once you serve your commitment, you receive money to pay off your student loans.
The term is often five consecutive years teaching either math or science, but there may be some variations depending on what is needed in the area. The loan award is usually about $17,500 and sometimes you can even renew the contract and serve additional time for more money to pay off your student loans.
3. Nurse
Nurses are always in high-demand, especially in federally funded locations such as clinics and hospitals. Nurses who meet the requirements will receive money to pay off their student loans and may even receive student loan forgiveness, depending on the program they participate in. It is important that you read over the requirements of the program you plan to participate in because many times, you need to be enrolled in an accredited nursing program or have graduated from one already.
Careers with Higher Salaries
In addition to careers that offer to pay off your student loans or forgive some of your student loan debt, you can also enter into careers that pay a nice salary that will allow you to afford your student loan debt. One of the most important things that you must remember is that when you choose a career that pays more, you will need to spend more on your degree, which will result in a higher student loan debt amount.
1. Pharmacist
If you like science and medicine, then a great career choice for you may be to become a Pharmacist. As a Pharmacist, you can make a nice salary and the median average salary is $118,000. There is a projected growth in the field of 14 percent, which is not too bad at all.
To help you integrate into the field and to help give you an idea of whether or not it may be the right career choice for you, you can work as a pharmacy technician and assist the local pharmacist with every day prescription fillings, etc.
2. Law Professor at a University
If you love the law and want to be able to put your knowledge to good use, you do not have to just become a lawyer. While a lawyer position does pay nice, a Law Professor at a University will pay an average of $126,000 per year. There is an expected growth rate of 19 percent. You can surely pay off your student loans with a career in this field.
3. Specialty Doctors
Specialty Doctors are those doctors that specialize in a specific field. For instance, a podiatrist, a neurologist, and pediatrician, and similar. These careers are highly sought after and always in need. If you do choose this career path, you will be paid handsomely for it. The average salary of a podiatrist is $137,000 while the average salary of a pediatrician is $175,000 per year.
The growth rate for Specialty Doctors ranges and falls somewhere between 15 to 20 percent over the next ten years.
Final Thoughts on Careers and Student Loan Debt
As you can see, there are many options available and a large variety of careers that will allow you to pay off your student loan debt quickly. All of these career choices are rewarding both personally, emotionally, and financially.
If you are unsure of what career path you want to take, sit down and give it some thought. You never want to simply rush into something because you think you will like it.
On the other hand, when it comes time to take out a student loan, make sure that you are only borrowing the amount you need. This will allow you to stay within reason and not graduate with a hefty amount of student loan debt that you did not really need.
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