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Student Loan Forgiveness Programs
How Active Duty and Reserve Military Personnel Can Find Student Loan Forgiveness Programs
Whether you are in the military services on active duty or in the reserves, this web site can help you if you are (1) seeking loan repayment options, (2) looking for information on loan forgiveness programs the military offers servicemembers, and (3) searching for programs to erase college student loans during your time in service. For more information on other types of student loan forgiveness programs to help you repay college loans, read our updated web page on how to find more detailed information on various student loan forgiveness programs. Serving in the military has many advantages, and one of the most often overlooked is the abundance of student loan forgiveness programs offered by all branches of the armed forces. There are loan repayment and loan forgiveness programs available to miitary personnel serving in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and in the Coast Guard, as well as Reservists and National Guardsmen called up to active duty during wartime. Loan forgiveness programs for both enlisted personnel and officers are available from the federal government. Under these military student loan forgiveness programs, you get an opportunity to see the world and defend your country, and in return, the federal government will often help repay the loans you took out to go to college. There are many programs, and as is the case with everything connected with the military, each opportunity usually is tempered by multiple restrictions. But these student loan forgiveness programs are well worth your time to hunt them down online and to apply for them to help gain forgiveness of your college loans. The military's Student Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) is one such program. Under the Student Loan Repayment Program, when you enlist the Army will pay back up to $65,000 in qualified education loans (up to $20,000 for reservists), the Navy up to $65,000 and the Air Force up to $10,000. Each year 15% of the loan balance or $500, whichever is greater, will be repaid by SLRP. You can view the Navy BUPERS instruction on the Navy Student Loan Repayment Program, complete with full details and forms on the subject. This program primarily used in the early stages of recruiting into the Navy ranks. There may also be annual and cumulative caps on the amount repaid. Participants must score 50 or higher on the Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT). SLRP must be requested at the time of enlistment or reenlistment. Qualified education loans include federal education loans such as the Perkins, Stafford, PLUS, or Consolidation loans, but not private alternative loans. Restrictions: Defaulted loans are not eligible. Taxability: Payments made under the SLRP are considered taxable income. As you can see, the student loan forgiveness programs available in exchange for voluntary military service are vast. The only problem? Each service has different qualifications and requirements, so diligent research is required. We've assembled this listing of helpful websites to assist your search. For more ways to locate military loan repayment and loan forgiveness programs online, check out:
Student Loan Relief for Active Duty Military Personnel: On August 18, 2003 , President Bush signed the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act (HEROES), legislation authored by Rep. John Kline (R-MN) that allows the U.S. Secretary of Education to excuse military personnel from their federal student loan obligations while they are on active duty. For more general information about student loan discharge, contact the Direct Loan Servicing Center at 1-800-848-0979 if you have a Direct Loan. Contact the lender or agency that holds your loan if you have a FFEL. If you borrowed using a Federal Perkins Loan, contact that particular school which made the loan. The following information is found on the Federal Student Aid website: http://www.fsahelp.ed.gov/cancellation.html. Military personnel who have been deployed or mobilized are not required to make student loan payments during their absences. Federal regulations require lenders to postpone the student loan program payments of active-duty military personnel. This applies to members of the National Guard and Ready Reserves who have been called to active duty, as well as to active-duty personnel whose duty station has been changed as a result of a military mobilization. Navy College Offices Encourage Higher Education; Military Personnel Offered Free College Education Opportunities BREMERTON, Wash. (NNS) -- Navy College Offices (NC0) around Navy Region Northwest installations sponsored education fairs Aug. 10-13 to educate Sailors about the education and certification opportunities. This year's annual education fair marks the 35th anniversary of the Navy College Program. "Sailors benefit from all the 27 different schools provided here today," said Gil Williams, Navy College director Bremerton. "Every school here today is part of the Navy College Program Distance Learning Partnership (NCPDLP). The NCPDLP allows Sailors who are on a West Pac or on work-ups to pursue their education because all the schools allow the student to take online classes and participate in pursuit of a degree without being in the classroom." "Without this [fair] often the first [school] you go to is the first one you wind up [attending]. It might be the best choice, but it might not be. So by giving them this opportunity to comparison shop, they can often get the best deal they can find," said Stan Monusko, Navy College director, Everett. The Navy College Offices not only provide Sailors and family members with materials about different colleges and universities, but they help make the transition to student status a little easier. "Once they make their choice, we [help with] tuition assistance. We can teach them how to apply for it. If it's other funding that they need, we can give them assistance on their G.I. Bill. We can provide them information on testing. Instead of taking a course maybe they can take an exam and get credit that way," said Monusko. "We can provide them things to help them attend the course once they've made their decision." Certification programs available to active-duty Sailors were also presented. Through Navy Credentialing Opportunities Online (COOL), Sailors can earn qualifications for a civilian job similar to their current rate to allow for a smoother transition to civilian life. The United Services Military Apprentice Program (USMAP) available to active-duty Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard personnel and allows them to complete a Department of Labor apprenticeship program through normal work routine by completing hours of related tasking. Some schools even accept USMAP certification for college credit. "A USMAP certificate is documentation of your work skills you got while you're in the military. It's transportable credentials that tells a prospective employer that you know your job and you are a journeyman," said Kenneth Ledbetter, USMAP Marketing and Outreach coordinator. Another purpose of the education fair is to notify personnel of new programs that have become available to them such as the Department of Defense and Department of Labor-sponsored program, My Career Advancement Account, for military spouses in certain locations. "Spouses can qualify for up to $3,000 for two years to earn a portable type of degree plan to go from one base to another as they follow their sponsor in the military," said Cheryl Pollock, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island Navy College director. "This is the first year that military spouses have funding provided through the DoD." The importance of education is not lost on Sailors both in and out of the Navy. An associate degree earns a Sailor two points toward advancement while a bachelor's degree earns four; a degree opens up more job opportunities in the civilian world.
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Loan Forgiveness Program - A Breather for Distressed Military Personnel
Everyone is aware of the dedication and the sacrifices made by military personnel in the services provided to their country. But, do we do something to uplift the quality of their life? Though we place them on a pedestal, sing laurels about them and provide tributes to their service not much is being done to actually help them better their individual personal and family lives. Keeping that in focus a special program called Armed Forces Loan Forgiveness Program was started after 11 September 2001. This program is mainly focused on providing relief to a tune of $2,500 to people who have been in active service between 11 September 2001 and 30 June 2008. This is applicable to student loans and can be availed only once. This is totally a private funded program and does not involve the government in any manner. It is run by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEEA) that oversees the entire functioning of the program. Also, there is no burden on the taxpayers to fund the program in any manner. Apart from the eligibility criteria for the personnel to be in active duty between the stipulated periods mentioned, there are other criteria that need to be fulfilled to be able to avail the loan forgiveness program. Only loans such as AES, Consolidation, HEAL, Keystone EXTRA, SLS and Stafford are eligible for participation to this program. The loan payments should not be in default and be paid correctly till the current date. Only loans provided before the deadline i.e. June 30 is eligible. Last but not the least the military personnel should have a connection to Pennsylvania to be eligible for the loan forgiveness program. For this, the person should be either a resident of the state presently or should have had their education in Pennsylvania before joining up the armed forces or should have been in the state when they entered the armed forces. For non-residents to be eligible is only possible if they had their education at a state college and joined the military right after their education. If the concerned military personnel match up with all these eligibility criteria, then they can get loan forgiveness through this program. The entire process of applying has been simplified and made easy. The interested personnel can get the form by going online and visiting the PHEAA site at www.pheaa.org and downloading it. After completing the form it can be forwarded to the PHEAA office at the following address: AES Loan Forgiveness Group, Post Office Box 2461, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105-2461. The interested persons can also access a helpline by using the number 1-800-233-0557. The applications should reach the office before 31 December 2008 to be eligible for the program. Even though $2500 is not a substantially high amount in today's times, something is definitely better than nothing to help our military personnel tide over their financial difficulties. For this reason, many of our military personnel are utilizing this program to help them reduce their burden of never ending financial commitments in life. Discover more on loan military travel as well as loan rate act for military when you visit top military personal loans resources at http://www.martialloan.com Article Source: John B Mayall
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