Federal Student Loan Forgiveness

1. Federal Student Loan Forgiveness An overview of federal student loan repayment and forgiveness

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3. Session Objectives At the end of this presentation you should understand: • The various federal student loans • The numerous repayment options for federal student loans • Teacher Student Loan Forgiveness • Public Service Loan Forgiveness

4. Survey Do you currently have student loans? • Yes • No

5. The Types of Federal Student Loans • Direct Subsidized Loans/Stafford • Direct Unsubsidized Loans/Stafford • Direct PLUS Loans • Direct Consolidation Loans • Federal Perkins Loan

6. Who are the Servicers • Cornerstone • Fed Loan Servicing • Great Lakes Ed Loan Svc • HESC/Ed Financial • Navient • NELNET • OSLA • VSAC Fed Loans • MOHELA

7. Grace Period • Set period of time after graduation, leave school, or drop below half-time enrollment before you must begin repayment on your loan. • Direct Subsidized Loans, Direct Unsubsidized Loans, Subsidized Federal Stafford Loans, and Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans have a six-month grace period before payments are due. • PLUS loans have no grace period. They enter repayment once they are fully disbursed but may be eligible for a deferment.

8. Repayment Plans • Graduated Repayment Plan • Extended Repayment Plan • Pay as you Earn • Revised Pay as you Earn (REPAYE) • Income Based Repayment Plan • Income Contingent Repayment Plan • Income Sensitive Repayment Plan

9. Standard Repayment Plan

10. Graduated Repayment Plan

11. Extended Repayment (graduated or fixed)

12. Pay As You Earn

13. Discretionary Income • The difference between your income and 150% of the poverty guideline for your family size and state of residence

14. Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE)

15. Income-Based Repayment Plan

16. Income-Contingent Repayment Plan

17. Discretionary Income • The difference between your income and 100% of the poverty guidelines for your family size and state of residence

18. Income Sensitive Repayment Plan

19. Loan Consolidation • Allows you to combine multiple federal loans into one • It may increase the length of repayment, which could mean more interest • Loss of possible borrower benefits

20. Loan Deferment • A period in which repayment of the principal and interest of the loan is temporarily delayed • The government may pay the interest if you have a subsidized loan • The government will not pay interest if loan is unsubsidized

21. Deferment Situations • During a period of at least half-time enrollment in college or career school • During a period of study in an approved graduate fellowship program or in an approved rehabilitation training program for the disabled • During a period of unemployment or inability to find full-time employment ( for up to 3 years) • During a period of economic hardship (includes Peace Corps service) (up to 3 years)

22. Loan Forbearance • To be used if not qualified for deferment • The ability to stop making payments or reduce payments for up to 12 months • Interest will continue to accrue whether loan is subsidized or unsubsidized

23. Forbearance Situations • Financial Hardship • Illness • Performing teaching service that would qualify for teacher loan forgiveness • The total amount you owe each month for all the student loans you received is 20 percent or more of your total monthly gross income (additional conditions apply)

24. Teacher Loan Forgiveness • This program is for full-time teachers who have completed 5 consecutive academic years of teaching in certain elementary and secondary schools. • Forgiveness can be as high as $17,500 for Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans and Subsidized and Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans.

25. Eligibility • You must have been employed as a full-time teacher for five complete and consecutive academic years, and at least one of those years must have been after the 1997–98 academic year. • The loan(s) for which you are seeking forgiveness must have been made before the end of your five academic years of qualifying teaching service. • You must have been employed in an elementary or secondary school that is listed in the Annual Directory of Designated Low-Income Schools for Teacher Cancellation Benefits. • https://www.tcli.ed.gov/CBSWebApp/tcli/TCLIPubSchoolSearch.jsp

26. How Much Forgiveness is Available • A highly qualified full-time special education teacher for elementary school children with disabilities. (forgiveness of up to $17,500). • A highly qualified full-time special education teacher for secondary school children with disabilities.(forgiveness of up to $17,500). • A highly qualified full-time mathematics teacher for secondary school students (forgiveness of up to $17,500). • A highly qualified full-time science teacher for secondary school students (forgiveness of up to $17,500).

27. How Much Forgiveness is Available • A full-time secondary education teacher in a subject area relevant to the teacher’s academic major only if the teaching service began before 10/30/2004), or a highly qualified full-time secondary education teacher (forgiveness of up to $5,000). • A full-time elementary education teacher and demonstrated knowledge and teaching skills in reading, writing, mathematics, and other areas of the elementary school curriculum (only if the teaching service began before 10/30/2004), or a highly qualified full-time elementary education teacher (forgiveness of up to $5,000).

28. Highly Qualified Teacher • Have obtained full state certification as a teacher (including certification obtained through alternative routes to certification) or passed the state teacher licensing examination, and holds a license to teach in that state, except that when used with respect to any teacher teaching in a public charter school, the term means that the teacher meets the requirements set forth in the state's public charter school law • Have not had certification or licensure requirements waived on an emergency, temporary, or provisional basis.

29. Highly Qualified Teacher A middle or secondary school teacher who is new to the profession is highly qualified if the teacher: • holds at least a bachelor’s degree • has demonstrated a high level of competency in each of the academic subjects in which the teacher teaches by • passing a rigorous state academic subject test in each of the academic subjects in which the teacher teaches • successful completion, in each of the academic subjects in which the teacher teaches, of an academic major, a graduate degree, course work equivalent to an undergraduate academic major, or advanced certification or credentialing.

30. Highly Qualified Teacher An elementary, middle, or secondary school teacher who is not new to the profession is highly qualified if the teacher also: • holds at least a bachelor’s degree • meets the applicable standards of an elementary, middle, or secondary school teacher who is new to the profession

31. How to Apply • Apply once the 5 year teaching requirement has been met • Complete the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Application • Send completed application to lender or servicer

32. Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness • Borrowers may qualify for forgiveness of the remaining balance due on their eligible federal student loans after they have made 120 eligible payments on those loans under certain repayment plans while employed full time by certain public service employers.

33. Eligibility Requirements • Loans cannot be in default • Borrower must be employed full time by a public service organization: • At the time the borrower applies for loan forgiveness • When making EACH of the required 120 qualifying loan payments • At the time the remaining balance of the eligible loans is forgiven

34. Qualifying Employment • Government organizations at any level (federal, state, local, or tribal) • Not-for-profit organizations that are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code • Other types of not-for-profit organizations that provide certain types of qualifying public services • Full-time AmeriCorps or Peace Corps position

35. Loan Repayment Requirements • Any payments made prior to October 1, 2007 do not count toward the requirement • Each of the 120 payments must be made no later than 15 days after the scheduled payment date

36. Repayment Plans Available for Public Loan Forgiveness • Income-Based Repayment Plan (IBR) • Pay As You Earn • Revised Pay As You Earn • Income Contingent Repayment Plan (ICR) • Standard Repayment Plan • Direct Loan Program repayment plan in which payments are at least equal to the monthly payment amount that would have been required under the Standard Repayment Plan

37. How to Apply • Public Service Loan Forgiveness Employment Certification Form • Should be filed annually • https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/public-service-employment-certification-form.pdf

38. Code Word REPAYE

39. Questions