Public Service Forgiveness What kinds of employment qualify?

Public Service Forgiveness

The Public Service Forgiveness Program (PSLF) Program is intended to encourage individuals to enter and continue to work full-time in public service jobs. Under this program, borrowers may qualify for forgiveness of the remaining balance of their Direct Loans after they have made 120 qualifying payments on those loans while employed full time by certain public service employers.

What must I do to have any remaining balances on my Direct Loans forgiven under the PSLF Program?

• You must make 120 on-time, full, scheduled, monthly payments on your Direct Loans. Only loans taken after October 1, 2007 qualify.
• You must make those payments under a qualifying repayment plan.
• When you make each of those payments, you must be working full-time at a qualifying public service organization.

What loans are eligible for forgiveness?

Only loans you received under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program are eligible for PSLF. Loans you received under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program, the Federal Perkins Loan (Perkins Loan) Program, or any other student loan program are not eligible for PSLF.

If you have FFEL Program or Perkins Loan Program loans, you may consolidate them into a Direct Consolidation Loan to take advantage of PSLF. However, only payments you make on the new Direct Consolidation Loan will count toward the required 120 qualifying payments for PSLF. Payments made on your FFEL Program or Perkins Loan Program loans before you consolidated them, even if they were made under a qualifying repayment plan, do not count as qualifying PSLF payments. In addition, if you made qualifying payments on a Direct Loan and then consolidate it into a Direct Consolidation Loan, you must make 120 qualifying payments on the Direct Consolidation Loan.

What kinds of employment qualify?

Qualifying employment is any employment with a federal, state, or local government agency, entity, or organization or a not-for-profit organization that has been designated as tax-exempt by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). The type or nature of employment with the organization does not matter for PSLF purposes. Additionally, the type of services that these public service organizations provide does not matter for PSLF purposes.

A private not-for-profit employer that is not a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the IRC may be a qualifying public service organization if it provides certain specified public services. These services include emergency management, military service, public safety, or law enforcement services; public health services; public education or public library services; school library and other school-based services; public interest law services; early childhood education; public service for individuals with disabilities and the elderly. The organization must not be a labor union or a partisan political organization.

Contact us today to find out what you can qualify for and what your new payments will be under the Public Service Forgiveness Program.

Most Common Job Titles that Qualify for Public Service Forgiveness

• Teacher/School Employees
• Nurses
• Hospital Employees
• Military
• Police
• Firefighters
• City/State Employees
• Non Profit Employees and Others

Student Loan Forgiveness

The Public Service Loan qualifying Forgiveness program is helping millions of borrowers to free themselves from the burden of student loan. There are stipulations but the weight of debt is less with this program. If a borrower fits the qualifications, they are eligible for relief from student loans. The loan options listed with these plans are strict and if defaulted, the borrower is responsible for any interest accrued and the entire balance of the loan.

Qualifications

A list of qualifications governs these programs. For example, under the Public Forgiveness Program, a borrower must keep a full time job working for a public agency and make 120 on time payments in order for any outstanding   balance to be forgiven at the end of the 120 months. The method by which your loan is paid will be determined by the type of program for which you qualify.

Eligible Loans

Only Federal loans qualify for the different student loan forgiveness programs.

On Time Payments

It is important that these payments be made on time, no later than 15 days of the agreed payment time. Deferment of forbearance does not apply to Loan Forgiveness. Most loans may need consolidating in order to fit under the umbrella of the PHEAA program.

Programs

There are several programs that can qualify a borrower for the Public Student Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).

• Income-Contingent Plan (ICR),
• Income based Repayment (IBR)
• Pay as You Earn Plan.

In addition to the part of the principal being forgiven for borrowers that qualify for these programs, these same programs may offer lower monthly payments making it easier for the borrower to manage their student debt.

Working for Public Service

Each payment can only qualify if a borrower is working on a qualifying job at the time payment is made. The person can only qualify for payments if they are working on a qualifying job when they apply for this program.

Throughout the process, a borrower must hold a job for a Public Service Organization. The process has several steps that must be followed in order to receive this assistance with your student loans.

All these programs have different qualification criteria and offer different benefits.

If you want to learn more,give us a call and we can go over all the requirements and find out what you qualify for.