Your Guide To Student Loan Debt Relief and Forgiveness

Your Guide To Student Loan Debt Relief and Forgiveness

Most students opt for student loans to help them pay for their higher education. One of the reasons why the US student loan debt is above $1.2 trillion. Most students that take up loan find it hard to pay it off due to the fact that their job may not pay enough or any other problem. That is why it is important for them to know about relief and forgiveness programs that are out there, which can provide some relief to them. We have a guide that will help you in getting familiar with these programs.

Forgiveness programs

There are various forgiveness programs that are offered for those with student loans, the most common of which are:

  • Total permanent disability discharge: for this with a disability.
  • Teacher loan forgiveness and Perkins loan cancellation program: for educators that work in low-income schools
  • Public service loan forgiveness: employees at non-profits and government offices
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    Income-driven repayment forgiveness: for those that are part of an income-driven repayment program
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    Military college loan repayment program: individuals that join the military in either active or reserve roles

The amount forgiven in each other program varies. In TPDD, PSLF, and IDRF programs you can get forgiveness for the whole amount whereas the for the rest of the program it varies.

Forgiveness may not be an option for everyone and there for students should also look at other ways to get some sort of relief in terms of paying back their loan. A great way to do that is through lowering the monthly payment by enrolling in the income-driven repayment plan. What the plan does is, it caps the monthly payment of the loan based on your salary and you only pay about 10-15% of your salary towards the loan. There are three different plans you can go with within income-driven repayment plan and they are:

  • Revised pay as you earn
  • Pay you earn income-based repayment

These plans are revised annually based on your salary and allow students to get some relief on paying back the loans.

With so many programs out there for forgiveness and relief, it is important that you educate yourself about these programs and see whether you fit the criteria. The programs are out there to aid students and help them pay off their loans so they aren’t in debt for years to come. So take advantage of the programs that are available and help yourself out of debt.