Student Loan Forgiveness for Nurses??

[metal_m0nk]

President Obama has enacted legislature that will allow Direct Loan holders to have their loans forgiven after 10 years of eligible employment in Public Service and 120 payments made to their loans.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness

This benefit is for people who work in certain "public service" jobs in government and nonprofit 501©(3) organizations (for details see What are eligible jobs?). The program will forgive remaining federal student loan debt after 10 years of eligible employment and qualifying payments.

You may qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness if:

You have federal student loans in the Direct Loan program. Covered loans include Stafford, Grad PLUS, or Consolidation loans through the Direct Loan program.

If your federal loans are not in the Direct Loan program, you may be able to switch (see box on the right to find out more).

Your Direct loans originated before or after the loan forgiveness program was created, for either graduate or undergraduate study.

You work full time in an eligible job.

While working in an eligible job, you make qualifying payments for a total of 10 years (120 monthly payments which do not have to be consecutive). As long as you are in the Direct Loan program, these payments can be made through the Standard (10-year) repayment, Income Contingent Repayment (ICR), and/or Income Based Repayment (IBR) plans.

You are still working full time in an eligible job and have debt remaining after 120 qualifying payments.

What are eligible jobs?

In most cases, eligibility is based on whether you work for an eligible employer. Your job is eligible if you:

are employed by any nonprofit, tax-exempt 501©(3) organization; are employed by the federal government, a state government, local government, or tribal government (this includes the military and public schools and colleges); or serve in a full-time AmeriCorps or Peace Corps position.

If you don't meet these criteria, the Department of Education's regulations create a two-part test of other circumstances under which you may still be eligible:

(1) your employer is not "a business organized for profit, a labor union, a partisan political organization, or an organization engaged in religious activities, unless the qualifying activities are unrelated to religious instruction, worship services, or any form of proselytizing;"

and,

(2) your employer provides any of the following public services: emergency management; military service; public safety; law enforcement; public interest law services; early childhood education; public service for individuals with disabilities and the elderly; public health; public education; public library services; and school library or other school-based services.

These definitions of eligible jobs reflect the Department of Education's final regulations for PSLF, as posted in the Federal Register on October 23, 2008.

For more information: http://www.ibrinfo.org/index.php

I think it's worth finding out if you qualify!

[psychonaut]

I'm sorry, but you took a loan out and you need to pay it back. I took loans out and I payed them back with interest. I was thankful that I could go to school because of student loans and I payed them back. Why should anyone be exempt?

I agree. My student loans will (hopefully) be paid off in 10 years, because I pay > double the monthly payment, and am chipping away at that principal slowly but surely.

The OP clearly stated Direct Loans. My loans are direct loans. The government gave me about 50k of YOUR money, at very low interest rates and with extremely forgiving repayment terms. Thank you! I have paid ~8k of it back so far, and I will pay it ALL back in at least the required time frame. If things go my way, it will actually be about half that time.

When I borrow money, I pay it back.

Loan forgiveness programs have their place. Certainly the military is a great example of this. I may be more supportive of this if it were a set amount for a set time of employment in an area that couldn't be better served by the private market. But the whole thing about making 10 years of payments, then the rest (no matter how much) just goes "poof"? I'm wary.

[**All Heart RN**]

And here I thought nursing folk were all about critical thinking...

All that being said though...It's kind of twilight zone-ish to hear such disdain for a benefit to public service workers from....err....public service workers. That's some weird kind of masochism y'all have got going on.

Thank you for making the points that you have! I think that some people are so quick to criticize (especially when it comes to politics) without having taken the time to really think through the situation.

Once again, great points;)

[DroogieRN]

...and virtually all gov't loans have the interest paid FOR YOU while you are in school...it doesn't compound until after you graduate...

If you ever HAD taken out a student loan, you would know this.

I don't have a dog in this race but I have government loans now that accrue interest from the moment of disbursement. If your FAFSA says you are too "rich" to receive financial aid but you still need a loan, you can apply for an unsubsidized loan, which does add interest from the beginning. Just FYI.

That said, I'm not for loan forgiveness either, except under certain strict circumstances.

[metal_m0nk, BSN, RN]

Thank you for making the points that you have! I think that some people are so quick to criticize (especially when it comes to politics) without having taken the time to really think through the situation.

Once again, great points;)

Thanks, I appreciate that :)

Fortunately, I don't let people who make snap judgments without taking the time to read the details and apply deductive reasoning dictate or inform my decisions.

I hope no one else will either.

[Ashtae220]

It's my personal opinion obviously, but I think that loan forgiveness is great for people working in the public sector. This law is not just for the benefit or nurses but for those who chose to go into a low paying careers (having worked in the non profit world I can say it's hard to even make ends meet at times) that provide the public assistance needed to help others. Even so far as nursing goes, I say, why shouldn't nurses who have dedicated atleast ten years of their lives working in a difficult field that benefits society as a whole get a break? Especially when you consider that the cost of an education is OVERLY inflated. I believe (I could be wrong on this) that the United States is only developed country that charges such outrageous tuition for furthering education.

It's great if you can pay off your entire loan by yourself with no help whatsoever while also going to school at the same time. Unfortunately, you can't compare every single person to your own experiences. Not everyone has the same capacity as you to do things. I also came from a single parent family and through luck and connections my mother was able to get a job working with the state. She was the only person in my family to ever raise out of the lower class. The rest of my family is on welfare and disability. The government says I can afford to pay 7000 dollars a year when my mother can hardly afford to help me with 1000. My only choice then is loans or scholarships (both of which I have) but even so I expect that my debt upon graduation will be between 40-60k. With that being said I hope to have my loans paid off in less then ten years time so that I don't need to use a forgiveness program, but I would understand and be compassionate towards those who do choose to use such a program.

[mh356, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Please keep in mind that some of us are on a second career. I went to college the first time for a completely different career and paid with student loans-which I am still paying. Then went back to school for a BSN. Not eligible for any financial aid I took out all private loans. My total debt is just under SIX FIGURES. I don't need to hear about how I could have done it cheaper, etc. Whats done is done.

It will be years before I can buy a house, a new car or any extras. I live on a very tight budget. It would be nice if the forgiveness program took into consideration 2nd degree students.

[**All Heart RN**]

Please keep in mind that some of us are on a second career. I went to college the first time for a completely different career and paid with student loans-which I am still paying. Then went back to school for a BSN. Not eligible for any financial aid I took out all private loans. My total debt is just under SIX FIGURES. I don't need to hear about how I could have done it cheaper, etc. Whats done is done.

It will be years before I can buy a house, a new car or any extras. I live on a very tight budget. It would be nice if the forgiveness program took into consideration 2nd degree students.

You and I are almost in the exact same boat. Although at this point with just 4 months left in my BSN program (yay!), I'm paying out of pocket.

[Brownie3085]

This is what happens when people comment without checking the facts. In order to qualify for this loan repayment, you must work for a non-profit underserved area, so there are stipulations to getting your loan forgiven. Everyone doesnt JUST get it automatically. It does come in exchange for something and with a term contract, so yes although you are getting paid while working, you are also serving a community that doesnt have adequate access and resources to health care. Unfortunatelty, everyone was not brought up in a middle class family or is able to find the "promised" job once they graduate. Others who do, may encounter major lifestyle changes, responsibilities or setbacks (such as raising children, ailing parents or even a crisis situation such as a cancer diagnosis or the lost of a spouse who provided financial stability) that can cause the good intentions of paying back (every penny) to be more difficult than initially expected. I am all for this bill! So what if YOU didnt get xyz when you were paying YOUR loans. This is a self-fish (and troll-ish) way of thinking. So, you only approve something if it benefits you? Have you considered how this could benefits others? Or were you too busy consumed in your own issues to even care? This is the problem with the world today, we lack the simple concept of compassion and understanding for others!!!! I am glad you were able to fulfill your financial obligations...but sometimes LIFE happens and you require a HELPING hand...in whatever form it comes, be it loan forgiveness or simply understanding from a total stranger. Why dont you try being that stranger?

[mrsnj20]

I think the cost of education in this country is largely inflated and when people graduate, they are not able to get a job that pays as much as they need to pay for their education. This is especially true in public service.

I would love to be able to pay back my student loans, but because I am still attending school and unable to work overtime to pay off the current ones, the interest keeps piling up.

I think this program is a great thing, and while I hope to have my loans paid off after 120 payments, I think many people can benefit from this program.

I also think we should remember that many countries pay for or subsidize the education system as a way to promote the education of the country. I don't think there is anything wrong with that.

[Yuppers21]

I would rather people take the time to do the research to find out what they will likely be making with their degree (starting out, not the middle range of what most make after years of in the field) and then figure in the cost of their education and how that will translate into what is owed in payments after graduation. It is tiresome to see how little is expected of individuals when it comes to this kind of responsibilty. There is no mystery about student loans or hidden information. Free loan calculators can be easily found on the internet, every school must inform you of their tuition costs before you sign up (and have a financial aid department to assist you) and with a little research, one can find out what kind of employment the can reasonable expect to find with their degree, how likely they are going to be able to find employment quickly after graduation and how much one can expect to make starting out (roughly).

Life happens and things that are out of your control may compromise your ability to repay your loans. There are options in place for those instances. But I have a hard time feeling any sympathy for someone who took out too much loan and did not make plans to ensure s/he could repay that loan once done with school.

[cutekittenj]

Wow for people are not for loan forgiveness. Why are you not? I came for a very poor family and had to get a lot of loans and it can be a hardship paying them back. I'm happy for the ones who are able to pay for them but what about the ones who can't pay for them for various reason (unable to find employment, illness,being laid off, ect). So I see nothing wrong with them trying to repayback some of our loans. I think for working that hard we should get some reward besides getting a job after college (hopefully). The ones against loan repayment may think I'm crazy but I honestly think the ones who are against and think that other should think the same way as you do seems harsh.

[hiddencatRN, BSN, RN]

I'm a little surprised people are so anti-loan forgiveness too. It's a little wacky to be against an incentive to encourage people to go in to public service or make that choice a little easier. Are you against government grant money too, and existing loan forgiveness programs such as the HRSA loan repayment program?