by Lori Kaye

Created on: August 05, 2009

For the college student, or recent graduate, a possible way to reduce your debt is through student loan forgiveness. If you qualify, you can have all, or part, of your student loans forgiven. Following is a short look at student loan forgiveness and repayment programs.

Volunteer Work

Certain organizations offer loan forgiveness for volunteers. AmeriCorps provides its volunteers with $7400 in stipends and $4725 in forgiven loan credit. For AmeriCorps call 1-800-942-2677. Peace Corps volunteers can get deferments for their loans, plus partial cancellation for their Perkins Loans. Each year of service provides a 15% reduction in Perkins debt, up to a total of 70%. For the Peace Corps call 1-800-424-8580. Volunteers in Service to America, or VISTA, is a group of non-profit organizations which provides $4725 in exchange for 1700 volunteer hours. For VISTA call 1-800-942-2677.

Military

Students serving in the Army National Guard may be able to get their loans repaid through the Student Loan Repayment Program. The program provides up to $10,000.

Teaching

Through the National Defense Education Act, full-time teachers in elementary and secondary schools that serve low-income neighborhoods can have their Perkins Loan forgiven. The first two years of teaching provide 15% forgiveness, the third and fourth years provide 20%, and the fifth year provides 30%. To find out which schools are eligible, contact your school district.

Medical Professions

The National Health Service Corps and the Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program provide loan forgiveness to registered nurses and physicians. To qualify, you must agree to practice for a predetermined number of years in a remote or economically depressed region. The National Institute of Health Loan Repayment Program repays up to $35,000 per year for doctors who conduct clinical medical research.

In addition, many private hospitals repay student loans for occupational and physical therapists. You can contact the American Physical Therapy Association at 1-800-999-2782 for more information.

Other medical student repayment programs are available through the American Board of Family Practice, the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation, the Disadvantaged Health Professions Faculty Loan Repayment Program, the Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program, and the US Air Force, Army, and Navy Financial Assistance Programs.

Legal Professions

New lawyers who work in non-profit or public interest positions may have their loans forgiven. Contact Equal Justice Works at 1-202-466-3686. The American Bar Association also maintains a database of Loan Repayment Assistance Programs.

Individual states may have loan repayment programs, such as Alaska's Michael Murphy Loan. Students who studied law, law enforcement, penology, probation and parole, or other legal fields, can have 1/5th of their loan forgiven each year while working as a state trooper.

This partial list of loan forgiveness and repayment programs provides a number of sources for you to begin your search. What may seem like an overwhelming debt today may be forgiven through participation in one, or more, of these programs. After checking into these, don't forget to look more closely at any benefits available through your state and local governments.

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