Student Loan Repayment Or Student Loan Forgiveness

It is true that college loans are important in a college education but a lot of graduates are finding it hard to repay their debts after graduating. Though there is normally a grace period of up to 6 months before a borrower starts repayment, six months isn't a guarantee that a fresh graduate can secure a job and even if so, the salary isn't always enough to cover for the monthly student loan repayment plan. What are alternative options available?

Luckily there are loan forgiveness programs for students that officially forgive part of or your entire loan amount. There are forgiveness programs for nurses, doctors, teachers, lawyers and other professions.

Teachers who applied for Perkins loans may avail of loan forgiveness instead of opting for a student loan repayment plan. Teachers will be required to work full-time in schools (elementary or secondary) in low income communities. Depending on the teacher's qualifications, it is possible to cancel the entire loan. Since individual colleges provide Perkins loans, you'll have to contact the finance department of the college you've attended for details about loan forgiveness.

Medical professionals may qualify for loan forgiveness by working in low income areas with medical personnel shortage. Health care workers who are part of a medical research team in a program by the government's institute of health can have some amounts repaid on their behalf.

How about graduates of other disciplines?

You can avail of the Peace Corps and Americorps volunteer student loan forgiveness programs. Volunteers for Americorps can receive an education award amounting to almost $5000 for 1 year full time service which can be paid towards student loan. For Peace Corps volunteers, 1 year full time service is equivalent to cancellation of 15% of their outstanding loan balance. If a college loan repayment plans are too high for you, check into various loan forgiveness programs available in either volunteer or employment opportunities for help in debt reduction.