Work full time for a governmental agency or non-profit, and you can discharge your federal student loans after 10 years of payments.
Regardless of the balance.
Tax free.
And regardless of the job you hold in a qualifying employer.
Rich man, poor man,
Beggar man, thief.
Doctor, lawyer,
Indian chief !
Not sure about these job titles from the nursery rhyme, but the student loan forgiveness isn’t confined to the professionals at these agencies.
The IT person, the school janitor , the administrator and the bus driver are equally entitled to a public service loan forgiveness.
It’s easy to know if you work for a governmental agency of some kind, but drawing the line between non profits and 501(c)(3) entities may be harder.
The qualifying employers are those who can accept tax deductible contributions under the Internal Revenue Code. Luckily, the IRS has a data base that will tell you if an entity is a qualified charity.
Employment doesn’t have to be continuous, either.
You needn’t sign up in advance. All you need to do is make 120 payments and, as a practical matter, be on a payment plan longer than 10 years. You apply for forgiveness after you’ve made 120 payments and while working for a qualifying employer.
Talk about poorly known treasures.
More on public service loan forgiveness.
This is just one of the incredibly useful nuggets about helping people with student loan troubles I gleaned from Josh Cohen, rightfully called The Student Loan Lawyer.
Image from Storytiming.com
