How to Get Rid of Student Loans: Options to Consider When Trying

How to Get Rid of Student Loans: Have you ever thought if it was possible to get rid of student loans? Yes it is very much possible. When compared to other kinds of debt, student loans are in a category all to themselves.

As other kind of debt you simply have to pay them off. But with student loans, you have more options to get rid of them than other kind of loans.

Read on to know the best options when you need to get rid of student loans.

Options for Student Loans Debt

Getting rid of your student loan can be like a heavy burden being off your shoulders. Not too worry you basically have more options than you can ever think about. You have options of either;

How to Get Rid of Student Loans Through Forgiveness Programs

If you want to know how to get rid of student loan debt legally, there are a number of forgiveness programs you may qualify for. Here are a few of the best ones available today:

Income-Driven Repayment Plan Forgiveness

If you have federal student loans, you can apply for an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan.

The four plans available today are Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE), Pay As You Earn (PAYE), Income-Based Repayment (IBR), and Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR).

With REPAYE, PAYE, and IBR, your monthly payment will be 10% of your discretionary income. And if you have a balance remaining after 20 to 25 years, it will be forgiven.

With ICR, your payment will be 20% of your discretionary income, and you’ll be eligible for forgiveness after 25 years of payments.

Keep in mind that with IDR forgiveness, you’ll be taxed on the forgiven amount. So if you’re planning to use IDR repayment and forgiveness, save a little each year for your student loan forgiveness “tax bomb.”

Public Service Loan Forgiveness

If you work in public service or at a nonprofit, you can apply for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program.

With PSLF, you’ll be eligible for forgiveness after only 10 years (120 qualifying payments). That’s twice as quick as IDR forgiveness. And the forgiven amount isn’t taxable.

With PSLF, your payments don’t have to be consecutive. If you leave a qualifying employer for a few years, that’s OK.

You can pick right back up where you left off if you’re hired by a qualifying employer again later on.

Teacher Loan Forgiveness

With the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program, highly qualified teachers can receive up to $17,500 of forgiveness on their federal student loans.

To qualify, you’ll need to work full-time for five years in a low-income school or educational service agency. Unlike PSLF, your five years of service must be consecutive.

Medical Professionals

Many student loan forgiveness programs are geared toward healthcare professionals. Here’s a list of some of the best forgiveness and repayment programs for doctors and nurses:

National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program: Up to $50,000 of student loan forgiveness.
Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program: Up to 85% of student loans repaid
Faculty Loan Repayment Program: Up to $40,000 of student loan repayment
Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program: Up to $40,000 of repayment assistance
National Institutes of Health Loan Repayment Programs: Up to $35,000 per year of student loan repayment assistance
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Education Debt Reduction Program: Up to $200,000 of student loan repayment.
State-sponsored programs: Your state may also have student loan forgiveness programs for medical professionals.

Lawyers

If you’re an attorney who works in a public service position. You may be eligible for student loan forgiveness or repayment assistance. Here are a few programs worth checking out:

John R. Justice Program: Repayment amount varies by state
Department of Justice Attorney Student Loan Repayment Program: Up to $60,000 of student loan repayment assistance.
Herbert S. Garten Loan Repayment Assistance Program: Up to $16,800 of student loan repayment.
State-sponsored loan repayment assistant programs (LRAPs): According to the American Bar Association, there are 24 state-sponsored LRAPs.

Military Forgiveness Programs

If you’re a military veteran or currently serve on active duty, you may be eligible for student loan forgiveness. Here are a few programs worth looking into:

Army College Loan Repayment Program: Up to $65,000.
Army Reserve College Loan Repayment Program: Up to $20,000.
National Guard College Loan Repayment Program: Up to $20,000.
Navy Loan Repayment Program: Up to $65,000.
Air Force Judge Advocate General (JAG) Student Loan Repayment Program: Up to $65,000.
Healthcare Professions Loan Repayment Program: Up to $120,000.

How to Get Rid of Student Loans Discharge

With student loan forgiveness, you usually need to work in a particular profession or join a specific repayment program.

But even if you don’t qualify for one of the programs above, there are times when you may qualify for a government discharge.

If you want to know how to get rid of student loan debt legally apart from forgiveness, here are a few possibilities.

Closed School Discharge

If your school closed while you were enrolled or shortly after you stopped attending, the government may discharge 100% of your student loans.

In order to qualify for closed school discharge, you’ll need to be enrolled when the school closes or have withdrawn no more than 120 days beforehand.

You can also qualify if you were on an approved absence when the school closed.

False Certification Discharge

This discharge program is intended to help victims of identity theft. If someone falsely took out student loans in your name, there’s a good chance that you qualify for false certification discharge.

You may also qualify if your school signed your application without your consent or you were given student loans when you didn’t meet loan eligibility requirements.

Discharge for School Violations

If your school used deceptive tactics or broke state laws while it was recruiting you, you may be eligible for borrower defense discharge.

Another time that a school violation can lead to student loan discharge is when you withdraw before taking classes but your school doesn’t refund the lender. In that situation, you could be eligible for an unpaid refund discharge.

You’ll only be eligible for discharge on whatever portion of your loans the school should have returned.

Total and Permanent Disability Discharge

If you suffer a disability. Your federal student loans could be discharged under the Total and Permanent Disability Discharge (TPD) program.

To see if you qualify, begin by completing the TPD application. You’ll also need to meet the requirements for being “totally and permanently disabled.”

And you’ll need to provide documentation from a doctor, the VA or the Social Security Administration.

Death Discharge

If you die before you’ve paid off your federal student loans, the U.S. Department of Education’ll discharge them.

In the case of Parent PLUS Loans, these are discharged upon the death of the parent or the student who the loans were taken out for.

Bankruptcy Discharge

Much has been said about how difficult it can be to have student loans discharged in bankruptcy. In order for this to happen, the court must determine that your student loans are causing “undue hardship.”

Unfortunately, there’s no black-and-white math formula that’s applied here. Each borrower is at the mercy of the court justice to decide whether or not their loans cause undue hardship.

If undue hardship is determined, you could be eligible for total discharge, partial discharge or new terms.

Refinancing Your Student Loans

Federal student loan consolidation combines your existing federal loans into a single loan with a weighted interest rate.

Consolidation won’t lower your interest rate, but it can lower your payments by extending your repayment term, though you’ll repay more overall as a result.

Student loan refinancing can decrease your payments or the total you repay. This is done by replacing your existing loans; federal or private with a new private loan with a lower interest rate.

Refinancing isn’t right for everyone, especially borrowers struggling to repay their loans.

But if you have a steady income and good credit, and simply want to pay less each month, refinancing may make sense for you.

Conclusion

Finally, if none of these options work. Or none of them totally eliminate your student loan debt, the next best thing you can do is earn more money.

Go in search for a higher-paying job. And hopefully, you might see what will help you in paying off your student loans. You can also consider saving up to pay your student loan debt.