Students who are desperate with their student loan burden have a chance to have their student loan erased. Programs like these offer debt elimination for either some or even all of the student loans in exchange for choosing certain careers or do volunteer work. They eliminate anywhere from a few thousand dollars to over $100,000 of your student loan debt which will be a huge relief. However, there are only a very small number of applications for these programs, which indicates either many of the graduates are unaware of these opportunities, or they are completely uninterested in these certain careers.

Another reason that may turn off students from taking the opportunity through these programs is the fact that the eliminated amount of the student loan will be considered taxable income in the same year. However, there is one way to avoid it. Your student loan should have provisions which allow the loan to be forgiven. There is a requirement for these provisions for you to work in a certain field or profession or for certain employers, for a certain minimum of time.

There are also some criteria that you need to meet in order to be qualified for student loan forgiveness. To find out whether you qualify, simply contact the organization offering you the debt elimination and talk to their staff. Here are a few of them that offer student loan forgiveness:

AmeriCorps – Phone number 1-800-9422677 (up to $7400 in stipends plus $4725 to be used towards your loan).

Peace Corps – Phone number 1-800-4248580 (up to 70% of your student loan will be forgiven).

Army National Guard – Phone number 1-800-4648273 (up to $10,000 of student loan forgiveness plus tuition assistance and scholarships).

Mississippi Teacher Loan Repayment Program – Phone number 1-601-4326997.

American Federation of Teachers – regularly updates student loan forgiveness programs for teachers throughout America. You will be able to find opportunities and the deadlines of these programs.

Equal Justice Work – Phone 1-202-4663686 will give you student loan forgiveness programs if you are a law school graduate.

National Health Service Corps – Phone 1-888-8890974 passcode 8360318. Apply by 29 July 2010 for $200 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to eliminate health professions student debt.

Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program – Phone 1-800-2219393. Will help pay off your student loan debt to help alleviate the critical shortage of registered nurses currently experienced by certain types of non-profit health care facilities.

NIH Loan Repayment Program – Phone 1-866-8494047. Over $35,000 a year in student loan forgiveness.

Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP) – Phone 1-800-3334636 . Up to $25,000 a year for 3 years.

American Physical Therapy Association – Phone 1-800-9992782. Sometimes offer student loan forgiveness to recruit occupational or physical therapist.

See also the US Department of Education’s pages on Cancellation/Deferment Options for Teachers and Cancellation for Childcare Providers, as well as the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Form.

Other Loan Forgiveness Programs – you can look through the lists of organizations that offer student loan forgiveness based on State and Federal Programs available

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