Student Loan Forgiveness for Nurses??

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Specializes in ICU.

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!

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Would this include not-for-profit hospitals?

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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?

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Specializes in ICU.

Student loans and grants are the governments way of assisting people with their education. Now we need to add loan forgiveness to that as well just....because? I can see why some hospitals would do loan forgiveness in exchange for contract employement or the military offering GI bills and other like programs, but this just seems like a publicity stunt to endear the current president to the hearts of the people. After all, it's just free money from the sky, right :rolleyes:

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Specializes in ICU.
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?

Sorry love, all out of troll treats. Happy hunting! :)

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First of all I am not a troll. I am from a middle class family where my dad made too much money for me to be eligible for any financial assistance. I am one of four and there just was not enough money to go around. The only way I could go to school was through student loans (and my interest started compounding the day I took the loan out) and my summer job as a camp councelor. I was able to complete my four year degree at about a 18,000 loan to be repaid the month I graduated. Did it stress me out? YES! Did I pay every fricken penny back? YES! I was THANKFUL that I could go to school, work a part time job, and graduate with a BS. I PAID my student loan back in FULL with interest. So no I am not a troll, I am a real person who made my payments in full. I am a bit cautious of the free rides out there because I sure did not get one and I am a thankful for the education I got. I am blessed enough to go back to school now for my true passion and again I am THANKFUL. And I am having to pay in full with no discounts from our savings.

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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?

Good for you. Some students have to take out private loans that they have a hard time paying back later...therefore I think it is a good thing.

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but this just seems like a publicity stunt to endear the current president to the hearts of the people. After all, it's just free money from the sky, right :rolleyes:

No, this is from the Bush administration.

It has been in the works for a while.

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Specializes in ICU.
Student loans and grants are the governments way of assisting people with their education. Now we need to add loan forgiveness to that as well just....because? I can see why some hospitals would do loan forgiveness in exchange for contract employement or the military offering GI bills and other like programs, but this just seems like a publicity stunt to endear the current president to the hearts of the people. After all, it's just free money from the sky, right :rolleyes:

There's some math involved in this. And some important information to consider.

If I may have your attention...

The program stipulates that you must have 10 years of public service and must have made 120 payments to have your loans (whatever remains after making 120 payments) forgiven.

Consider:

Over the repayment period of their loans, Direct Loan borrowers who have not experienced financial hardship significant enough to warrant a deviation from the standard 10-year repayment plan generally stick with the standard 10-year repayment plan.

The standard 10-year Direct Loan monthly payment for a debt of $20,000 at an interest rate of 5% is about $240.00.

A borrower who is able to make payments at the standard rate throughout the repayment period will have satisfied their obligation at the end of 10 years ($240 x 120 = $28,800).

Conversely, borrowers who

1) Have seen significant financial hardship during the repayment period for whatever reasons (illness, disability, etc. - unforeseen and/or debilitating hardship)

or

2) Who may have many years in public service for the sake of public service (and not for a stellar paycheck), who are paid less than what their education level and experience might yield in another position (like, maybe...I don't know...a nursing instructor)

May have had to choose a repayment plan that reduces their monthly payment, (such as Extended Repayment for large amounts of debt or Income Contingent repayment for those who simply can't afford to make standard payments) thereby extending the life of their loan such that 120 payments (or 10 years of payments) doesn't satisfy their debt. So the offer is to reward 10 years of public service and a solid commitment to repaying the debt.

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. :lol2:

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Specializes in ICU.

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. :lol2:

Actually, not that suprising at all. Just b/c something might seem like a benefit to yourself doesn't mean you should automatically be for it. I don't believe there are too many instances where loan forgiveness is acceptable, though I'm sure there are some that even I would support. But my support wouldn't be based on whether or not I could take advantage of it.

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Specializes in NICU, Post-partum.
First of all I am not a troll. I am from a middle class family where my dad made too much money for me to be eligible for any financial assistance. I am one of four and there just was not enough money to go around. The only way I could go to school was through student loans (and my interest started compounding the day I took the loan out) and my summer job as a camp councelor. I was able to complete my four year degree at about a 18,000 loan to be repaid the month I graduated. Did it stress me out? YES! Did I pay every fricken penny back? YES! I was THANKFUL that I could go to school, work a part time job, and graduate with a BS. I PAID my student loan back in FULL with interest. So no I am not a troll, I am a real person who made my payments in full. I am a bit cautious of the free rides out there because I sure did not get one and I am a thankful for the education I got. I am blessed enough to go back to school now for my true passion and again I am THANKFUL. And I am having to pay in full with no discounts from our savings.

See, this is what screams "troll alert".

I have never seen a student loan that had to be paid back the month that you graduated, 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.

Even private loans, the interest may compound from the beginning but they are generally not due the month you graduate.

If you only took out $18K, virtually all of your loans should have been gov't.

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

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Specializes in ICU.

"Just keep swimming....Just keep swimming..."

Note to self: It is sooooooo not worth the headache.

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