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Are you pursuing a legal career in public service or at a government agency? Did you know that you may be eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program and/or GGU Law’s Loan Repayment Assistance Program?The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF) helps provide quality legal representation for low-income clients across the country. Under the Program, a borrower’s remaining federal student loan balance is forgiven, after 120 qualifying payments. To qualify, a borrower must be employed full-time in a public service job for at least 10 years. Federal Direct Loans are automatically eligible for forgiveness, but Federal Perkins Loans, Federal Family Education Loans, and private student loans must be consolidated to qualify. Once repayment begins, an income-driven repayment plan is the best way to maximize the Program’s benefits by lowering monthly payments. For more information about the Program click here.
Recently, controversy has formed over whether the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program can be depended on as a resource into the future. The Obama Administration has proposed capping PSLF at $57,000, and some members of Congress have called for the elimination of the program. The National Legal Aid & Defender Association released a 2,000 person survey discussing the impact of reducing student loan forgiveness for public service jobs. Here are a few of the key findings:
• The proposed cap of $57,000 would have prevented half of the respondents from taking their current job, or would encourage them to leave for a position with a higher salary.
• PSLF is one of the reasons that allowed seventy percent of the respondents to take their current job, or allows them to continue in their position.
• More than a quarter of the respondents have federal student loan balances of $175,000 or greater. Loan balances of $200,000 or more comprised the single largest category of responses.
• Over half of all respondents have monthly payments of $500 or less. Around fifty five of the respondents indicated that their monthly payments were affordable.
To review the complete results of the survey click here.
To better understand the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program and to stay abreast of political debate concerning possible caps on the program, Equal Justice Works provides free, monthly webinars on federal loan forgiveness, student debt relief options, and managing repayment. Visit here for more information.
Finally, GGU School of Law also offers a program to help students in low-paying public interest and government jobs. Under Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP), Golden Gate University makes a loan to qualifying graduates to assist them with their law school loan repayments. If a graduate remains eligible throughout the year, the loan is fully forgiven in July of the following year. There is no limit to the number of years a GGU graduate can receive LRAP support.
Applications for the 2015 LRAP cycle will open July 15, 2015. Complete applications are due September 1, 2015. To download the application click here.
Disclaimer: This blog post is intended to act as a quick reference for information about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. The information herein is not legal or financial advice. While we believe the foregoing information to be accurate, the reader should independently confirm such information before relying on it, especially since rules and requirements frequently change.
