Do I qualify for student loan forgiveness?
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For federal student loans, students may qualify for a number of loan forgiveness programs. While federal loans have loan forgiveness programs, borrowers with private loans can only get relief when they become disabled or die, but even in that case, their cosigner may still have to pay the remaining balance.
Borrowers may be eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program if they are employed full-time in the public service industry. If you work full-time for a non-profit, for the military, or in any level of government, you may be eligible to have all of your Direct Loans forgiven. You can only receive forgiveness after you have made 120 monthly payments under a qualifying repayment plan.
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Create Free ProfileYou may also be eligible for teacher loan forgiveness. If you teach full-time for five complete and consecutive academic years in a low-income elementary school, secondary school, or educational service agency, you may be eligible for forgiveness of up to $17,500 on your federal student loan payments. This program only applies to Direct Loans and FFEL Program loans.
Additionally, in 2o22, President Biden, Vice President Harris, and the U.S. Department of Education announced a student loan debt relief plan to help working and middle-class federal student loan borrowers.
In addition to a student loan payment pause until January 2023, The U.S. Department of Education will provide up to $10,000 in debt relief to student loan borrowers. For Pell Grant recipients, the student loan forgiveness goes up to $20,000 in debt relief. The only requirement for this program is that your individual income must be less than $125,000 or your household income must be less than $250,000.
If you don't qualify for student loan forgiveness, though, there may be scholarships that can help you with your debt. On Bold.org, grants like the @ESPDaniella Debt Grant or the
Forget Your Student Debt. No-Essay Grant help any students or former students with student loan debt. You can find others through the scholarship page on Bold.org. To get started today, create your free profile and start applying!
Is student loan forgiveness automatic?
Nearly 8 million borrowers may be eligible to receive relief without applying under the Biden-Harris Administration plan unless they choose to opt-out. Because relevant income data is already available to the U.S. Department of Education, most people will automatically be applied to the forgiveness plan.
For borrowers whose income data the U.S. Department of Education doesn’t have, you can apply on studentaid.gov. In the section on student loan debt relief, just click “Apply Now.” Borrowers won’t need to upload any documentation or have an FSA ID to submit their application, but the form does ask for your name, Social Security Number, date of birth, phone number, and email address. You must apply before December 31st in order to get debt relief.
For other loan forgiveness programs, contact your loan servicer if you think you qualify. If you have a Perkins Loan, you should contact the school that made the loan or the loan servicer the school has designated.
Will I be notified if my student loans are forgiven?
Once you apply, it may take some time for your application to be processed. If your student loan forgiveness application is approved, then you will be notified how much of the balance of your eligible loans will be forgiven, including interest. The Department of Education will notify you when your application is approved, and your loan servicer will update you once your loans are forgiven. direct loan program income-driven repayment plans.
How does student loan forgiveness work?
If you have federal student loan debt, student loan forgiveness works by forgiving some or all of your debt. This means that once you are accepted, you will not have to make federal student loan repayments on forgiven loans, including interest.
Forgiveness only applies to you if you keep up with your monthly payments for your loans, though. If you have defaulted on federal student loans, you are not eligible to receive loan forgiveness. When federal student loan repayment is difficult or impossible, you should talk to your loan servicer to come up with a payment plan before you fall into default status.
If you qualify for forgiveness of the full amount of your loan, you are no longer obligated to make loan payments. If you qualify for forgiveness for only a portion of your loan, you are still responsible for repaying the remaining balance.
How much student loan debt will be forgiven?
For Biden's student loan forgiveness plan, the Department of Education will forgive up to $10,000. For Pell Grant recipients, the student loan forgiveness goes up to $20,000. The interest itself is considered part of the balance for purposes of this program, so forgiveness will remove $10,000 from the total balance (i.e. interest and payment) that you owe.
For other forgiveness programs like Public Service Loan Forgiveness, you can get all of your federal student loan debt forgiven. Under the teacher loan forgiveness program, you can get up to $17,500 of your federal student loan debt forgiven.
Frequently asked questions about student loan forgiveness
When can you apply for loan forgiveness?
If you are eligible, you can apply for loan forgiveness like the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program at any time on the Federal Student Aid website. For the Biden-Harris forgiveness program, though, you have to apply before December 31st to get relief.
Do student loans go away after 7 years?
Student loans don’t go away after seven years. But if you have defaulted on student loans, the big credit bureaus remove the default status and late payments from your report seven years after the first missed payment. Most borrowers will see a jump in their credit scores the following month after their student loans fall off their report.
Additionally, after 20 or 25 years, you can see automatic forgiveness on your student loans if you are currently on an Income-Driven Repayment Plan.
If you don't plan on having all of your loans forgiven, scholarships can be a vital part of your financial plan. Start earning financial aid today by making a profile on Bold.org!
About Hailey
Hailey is adept at writing about financial aid and scholarships. Hailey has spent the majority of her high school and college career crafting her writing skills. In high school, Hailey’s writing experience included writing for her school’s yearbook as well as writing some articles for Redefy, an international non-profit whose goals are to fight stereotypes and promote positive perspectives. Hailey began studying Literary Arts and Africana Studies at Brown University after high school. In her studies, she has taken a variety of writing workshops that have helped her hone her craft as a writer. She will earn her bachelor's degree, which includes an honors degree in Creative Writing from Brown.
Hailey is also passionate about scholarships and financial aid, as she was a scholarship recipient through high school and college. Through the generosity of others, Hailey has been able to receive a quality education and would love to pass this gift on to others. As a current senior in college, Hailey has become well-versed in the ins and outs of scholarships, student debt, and college spending. With this experience and knowledge, she is readily prepared to help others as a Content Writer for Bold.org.
Hailey is no longer with the Bold.org Writing Team, but we continue to value and appreciate her contributions.