How to Not Pay your Student Loans (Legally)

1. Public Service Loan Forgiveness Does not let you forgive all of your loans but it will cover most of them if you qualify. Must be a full time employees of a government agency (federal, state or local) or of a 501(c)(3 non profit organization (must be non religious) Some other requirements include making 120 on-time payments to your loans. You must have Direct loans, which include: • Direct subsidized and unsubsidized loans • Direct PLUS loans • Direct consolidation loans And you must be repaying your loans in an income-driven repayment plan: • Pay As You Earn Repayment Plan (PAYE Plan) • Revised Pay As You Earn Repayment Plan (REPAYE Plan) • Income-Based Repayment Plan (IBR Plan) • Income-Contingent Repayment Plan (ICR Plan) You must fill out Employment Certification for Public Service Loan Forgiveness form each year Once you jump through all of those hoops and After your 120 payments, 100 percent of your loan balance is forgiven.  Congrats !! 2. Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Forgiveness  These are plans which can lower your monthly student loan payments. It still requires you to pay 10 to 15 percent of your discretionary income for 20 to 25 years, depending on different factors. This type of repayment plan is best for those who have a lot of debt but don’t expect to have a high income throughout their careers. You may qualify for Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Forgiveness plan if your payments would be lower than the standard 10-year repayment plan and you have one of these types of loans: • Direct subsidized and unsubsidized loans • Direct PLUS Loans made to graduate or professional students • Direct Consolidation Loans that did not repay any PLUS loans made to parents • Subsidized and unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans • FFEL PLUS Loans made to graduate or professional students • FFEL Consolidation Loans that did not repay any PLUS loans made to parents • Federal Perkins Loans 3. Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Forgiveness This is another type of income-driven repayment plan, similar to Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Forgiveness plan. With Pay As You Earn Forgiveness plan, your payments are maxed out at 10 percent of your discretionary income, and IF your payments would be less than your standard 10-year payments. You need to make consistent payments for 20 years, and you need to be a new borrower as of Oct. 1, 2007. The same types of loans qualify as for Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Forgiveness plan. 4.Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE) Revised Pay As You Earn is similar to Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Forgiveness except that there are no income requirements. That means you could pay a lot more under this plan than via a standard 10-year repayment plan. But, if you make on time, consistent payments 20 years (25 for graduate loans), you can get the rest of your loan balance forgiven. Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) Forgiveness This plan requires you to pay the lesser of 20 percent of your discretionary income, or what you’d pay on a fixed 12-year plan. This is the only IDR repayment program available to parent PLUS loan borrowers. You must make on-time payments for 25 years, after that your balance is forgiven. 6. The National Health Service Corps Loan (NHSC) Repayment Program Loan Forgiveness for Doctors Pharmacists, Doctors, and other healthcare professionals have some other options for loan forgiveness programs, depending on where they work. The The National Health Service Corps Loan (NHSC) Repayment Program if you work in a Health Profession Shortage Area at a NHSC approved site You can receive up to $50,000 in loan repayment in exchange for at least a two-year service commitment. 7. The National Institute of Health Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs) up to $35,000 annually of a researcher’s qualified educational debt in return for National Institute of Health mission-relevant research. 8. The Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program This program is offered to nurses who work in underserved communities for a minimum of two years. You must work in a “critical shortage facility,". It pays “60 percent of your nursing education debt over the course of two years—with an option to extend a third year for an additional 25 percent. 9. Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program This federal program forgives up to $17,500 on your Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans and your Subsidized and Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans if you “teach full-time for five complete and consecutive academic years in a low-income school.” 10. Loan Forgiveness for Lawyers Attorneys who work for three years at the Department of Justice might qualify for $60,000 in assistance.