Student loan forgiveness program for teachers

If you were a full-time teacher for five consecutive academic years in a "low-income" school, you could qualify for a federal loan forgiveness program.

To qualify, you must:

• have taught full time for five consecutive complete academic years in an elementary or secondary school that was designated a "low-income" school by the U.S. Department of Education.

And ...

• At least one of the qualifying years of teaching was after the 1997–1998 academic year.
• Your loan was made before the end of the fifth year of qualifying teaching.
• The school must be public or private nonprofit.

When and how to apply

You can apply to have your teacher loans cancelled after you have taught for five consecutive years.
Submit your completed application to the chief administrative officer at your elementary or secondary school. He or she must certify that you have taught full time for five consecutive years at that school, and

• if you're teaching in an elementary school, that you have knowledge of or teaching skills in areas of the elementary curriculum;
• if you're teaching in a secondary school, that you are teaching in a subject area relevant to your academic major.

Applications and regulations are available from the Department of Education's Student Aid on the Web.
When your application is complete, submit it to your loan servicer for processing.