Has anybody applied for this program, they forgive your school loans up to $17,500 if you teach at low income schools. Does anybody any feed back on this program.
It's the APLE program her in California. It's great. 1st year: $2000 2nd: $3000 3rd: $3000 4th: $3000
You have to teach for five years before it kicks in. It will cover $5000 in principal and capitalized interest for teaching in a qualifying Title I school. It will cover $17,500 if you are a math, science or sped teacher. Here is the application. APLE is a California program that will cover up to $19,000 and starts paying after the first year.
You are so luck, I wish it was like that here in texas, $5,000 is the most if you dont teach Math, Science or Spec Ed.
I'm teaching in Washington DC. Does anybody know if such a program exists here for Stafford Loans? It would be nice to have some loan forgiveness
Malcolm, Do you know if you can apply for both, the stafford loan forgiveness and the aple grant? I am currently receiving forgiveness through the aple grant, but would love to have more of my loans payed off.
This past year was my 5th year of teaching and I applied for the Stafford Teacher Loan Forgiveness program in June. It was super easy to apply--just a one page application. I just got my letter last week that I had been approved and the rest of what I owed on my loans ($4000) had been forgiven! Here is the link for information about the program. http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/attachments/siteresources/StaffordLoanBrochure.pdf It is a federal program---I would assume no matter where you live, if you meet the qualifications and have a stafford loan that you could have at least part of your loan forgiven.
Hi, If you plan to do the program you should try to get a loan forbearance through your student loan servicing company--meaning you don't pay on your loans while you are working those five years, just like you don't pay on them when you are at least a half-time student. From what I've read, most student loan companies will grant it, if you continue to qualify for the loan forgiveness program and stand to pay off a good deal of your loan amount at the conclusion of those five years...This is something you request directly through your lender. This is an especially good idea if you don't have a large amount of loans, say you have $15000 in loans to pay, and will qualify for the $17500 loan forgiveness, if you pay during those five years it will lower the amount to be forgiven, when you want to get the max amount of forgiveness...am I making sense? Hope so! I am working on ACP for Special Education so I haven't been able to apply to the program yet but it is definitely a major incentive for me.
If you still owe anything after APLE pays its share, I believe the Stafford loan forgiveness program will pick up what is left up to its limits. APLE works over the first four years of teaching. The Stafford loan forgiveness program does not do anything until after the fifth year. Note that there is language in the APLE paperwork that says it won't pick up anything that qualifies for another program, like Stafford loan forgiveness. Shouldn't be a problem though as far as I can see given the time frames. The only thing I can think of that might cause a problem would be asking the feds to forebear on the entire amount. I think one or both of us probably should talk to someone at the commission. If you are going to use one of these programs, it certainly makes sense to make your payments during the life of the loan as small as possible to minimize your out of pocket expense.
I qualified and was so thankful. I still had other loans to pay off but to have some of it taken care of was such a blessing! It was simple, I just had to fill out paperwork each year to document that my school qualified. My principal's signature was required as well and she always signed happily.
I am SO hoping the school I am going to makes the leap onto the list this year. The middle and high schools did, and the district had a 10% increase in the last 5 years of free/reduced lunch, so I'm optimistic. It would be a major relief to get some forebearance and then forgiveness on some of my load. Unfortunately I don't think Oregon has any programs like this at a state level, so I'll be anxious to take advantage of the federal program.
just a note - with APLE you have to have your credential before it kicks in (I'm a university credential, so I'm getting my credential and teaching simultaneously, so I don't qualify until the year after I finish my program)
Are math/sci/sped teachers the only ones who qualify? I heard somewhere that teachers in certian under-privelaged districts may also recieve them?
I was under the impression that all of your loans would be forgiven, I guess I was wrong. I have almost 25,000 in loans I have also read that up to 100% of your Perkins loan can be forgiven if you teach the 5 years in a Title 1 school, is this true?
Does this apply for any degrees outside of education? I have a BA in Communication Arts and a Masters in Elementary Ed. I have to pay off stafford loans from my undergrad studies. Does anyone know if I am eligible for this?
YES. I have to send in paperwork every year for five years. Every year, they take off 20%. It's GREAT!
The federal stafford program that we've been referring to is the "Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program", so you are only eligible for it if you have taught 5 years in a low-income school. I don't know if any other programs exist for other professions, but it probably says on the website: www.studentaid.ed.gov
I have always gotten a Stafford loan but never a Perkins loan. It seems like the Perkins loan is a better deal as far as loan forgiveness is conerned.
I have a Stafford Loan. I am going into my 6th year but need to wait two more years, from my understanding, because I got an Americorps stipend based on my first two years of teaching because of Teach For America. I would think the California money and the Federal money could not be based on the same years. You may want to check first. If it works like I think it works, you would probably get the first 4 years from Calif. then after your 9th year of teaching you would get the Federal forgiveness. That's my understanding. I am wondering how they determine eligibility for loan forgiveness if you switch schools and districts. For the five years that count I will have taught two years of fourth grade and three years of Middle School math. Anyone know if I must teach five years of middle school math to get the largest forgiveness amount?
I have looked into this a dozen times. I keep getting the runaround. They claim they used to give it to Head Start teachers and Coordinators. Now they don't. I got in at the end of the program. That sucks. You had to take out first your loan before 1996 or something like that. If you know something I don't, gimme a website!!
Stafford used to offer a student loan repayment plan for Child care providers and such but they no longer have the funding to do so. But the Perkins has expanded it's program and if you work in a non-profit or fit any of these qualifications you may be elgible!
I'm sorry Maybe the funds will be available again next year. Good thing is a the Higher Education Act has been updated and now there is a new type of loan forgivess program in effect. The new program states that if you have been "consecutively" paying on a loan for 10 years, the remaining balance will be forgiven, but this is only if you work in the field of public service. I would post the link but the board will not let me. Public service is defines as :
What if you state doesn't have an "APLE?" I am in Ohio and even after Stafford forgiveness I may still owe money. Is there a program that picks up the slack?
