How professionals can navigate their way around student debt

A university degree is almost essential for many jobs in the business and finance sector and without one you seem to be at a major disadvantage. However, there are few that can afford the tuition fees that are associated with such an education and it is extremely likely that a student will need to take out some form of loan throughout their time studying. There are many formats in which such loans are provided, and many of them have repayment schemes that are based around the individual paying back the loan slowly when they (eventually) start employment.

An alternative to repaying your loan

However, a new scheme has recently been launched which gives graduates an alternative to repaying the loan via a monthly scheme.

Student Loan Forgiveness provides a way for students to partially or completely wipe their debt when they enter a certain career. They appear to be a way of encouraging young people into certain sectors and the benefits of doing so extend far beyond the initial financial incentive. There are many student loan forgiveness schemes, such as loanforgiveness.org, that aim to support and guide graduates with their application.

Public service loan forgiveness

In order to qualify as part of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness programme you must meet certain requirements. The first is that you must take up full time, permanent employment at a public service organisation of your choice. This may include roles within local, state or federal government organisations or even certain non profit schemes selected by the IRS.

Importantly to qualify for student loan forgiveness, you must have already made over 120 repayments since graduating. This means that if you graduated in 2007 and have been repaying your debt in installments so far, you may well already be eligible.

Nurse Forgiveness

If you are a nurse you may also qualify for debt forgiveness to help you improve your current financial situation. This is due to the fact that nurses accumulate a large sum of debt throughout their studies but it is seen as such a valuable profession that they should be assisted.

Since there are many nurses up and down the country which would be interested in such a scheme it is clearly a highly competitive programme. This means that they only accept applicants once a year and only those who have already been working as a nurse for over 2 years can apply. 

Other types of loan forgiveness

There are many different schemes within the government’s loan forgiveness programs. Each has slightly different eligibility criteria and regulations in terms of applying for the scheme. It may require a slight bit of homework to workout if you match a certain scheme and how you should apply, but it could lead you to saving thousands.