Loan Forgiveness Program
This program allows for teachers to have a portion of their Stafford loans forgiven depending on the number of years of service they dedicate to Title I schools.  To be eligible, you first have to receive a Stafford Loan. You can get a Stafford Loan either through the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program or the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program.  Additionally, you must be employed for at least five consecutive, complete years as a full-time teacher in an elementary or secondary school designated as a low-income school.

There are two ways to be eligible for up to $17,500 in Stafford Loan forgiveness:

1. Meet the highly qualified designation set by the No Child Left Behind Act as a full-time mathematics or science teacher in a secondary school; or
2. Meet the highly qualified designation set by the No Child Left Behind Act as a full-time special education teacher whose main job is providing special education to children with disabilities.

There are two ways to be eligible for loan forgiveness of up to $5,000, depending on when you began teaching:

1. If your five years of qualifying teaching service in a low-income school began before Oct. 30, 2004, and you were a full-time elementary school teacher who demonstrated knowledge and teaching skills in the elementary school curriculum, or you were full-time secondary school teacher who taught in an area relevant to your academic major; or
2. If your five years of qualifying teaching service began after Oct. 30, 2004, and you were a highly qualified full-time elementary or secondary school teacher.

For additional information, visit http://www.aft.org/tools4teachers/federal-programs.htm#Stafford_eligibility

Public Service Loan Forgiveness
This program discharges any remaining debt after 10 years of full-time employment in public service.  It forgives the remaining interest and principle. 

The borrower must have made 120 payments as part of the Direct Loan program in order to obtain this benefit. Only payments made on or after October 1, 2007 count toward the required 120 monthly payments.

The borrower must be employed full-time in a public service job for each of the 120 monthly payments. Public service jobs include, among other positions, government, military service, public safety and law enforcement (police and fire), public health, public education, public early childhood education, public child care, social work in a public child or family service agency, public services for individuals with disabilities or the elderly, public interest legal services (including prosecutors, public defenders and legal advocacy in low-income communities), public librarians, school librarians and other school-based services, and employees of tax exempt 501(c)(3) organizations. Full-time faculty at tribal colleges and universities, as well as faculty teaching in high-need areas, also qualify.

Eligible loans include Federal Direct Stafford Loans (Subsidized and Unsubsidized), Federal Direct PLUS Loans, and Federal Direct Consolidation Loans. Borrowers in the Direct Loan program do not need to consolidate in order to qualify for loan forgiveness. Borrowers in the FFEL program will need to consolidate into Direct Loans.

Borrowers may use income-based repayment, income contingent repayment, standard repayment or a combination of these repayment plans. Payments made under other repayment plans (e.g., extended repayment and graduated repayment) do not count. To maximize the amount of forgiveness, borrowers should use income-based repayment. When income-based repayment is not available (e.g., prior to July 1, 2009), they should use income-contingent repayment.

For additional information, visit http://www.finaid.org/loans/publicservice.phtm

Programs to participate in during college