Goodbye, Student Loans? See If You Qualify for Total Perkins Loan Forgiveness in 2025!
Still dealing with a Perkins Novice Loan in You re definitely not alone and the good news is there may be a way to get rid of it without paying it all back Yep you heard that right Depending on your job or life situation there s a solid chance your loan could be partially or fully canceled Let s walk through what that really means and how you can make it happen Wait What s a Perkins Loan Again Just to recap Perkins Loans were low-interest federal loans meant for students with serious financial need They re a bit different because they were given out by your school using executive funds While the scheme ended in a lot of people maybe you are still making payments And that means you re still eligible for cancellation or discharge two different but powerful techniques to wipe out your learner debt Option Perkins Loan Cancellation Get Rewarded for Society Organization Here s the cool part If you work in certain jobs especially those that serve the locality you could slowly cancel your loan over time Teachers nurses cops firefighters and military members this one s for you Here s how it works After one full year of working in a qualifying job part of your loan is canceled Each year more gets knocked off If you stay in that job for five years your whole loan could be gone forgiven Jobs that often qualify Full-time teachers especially in low-income schools or hard-to-fill subjects math science special ed Nurses health techs and certain healthcare workers Law enforcement and correctional officers Military personnel especially those in combat zones Peace Corps or AmeriCorps VISTA contributors It s kind of like being rewarded for helping people which honestly you deserve Option Perkins Loan Discharge When Life Doesn t Go as Planned Sometimes it s not about your job Sometimes life just happens and that s where discharge comes in Your Perkins Loan could be fully wiped out if you re facing certain tough circumstances like You ve become totally and permanently disabled You ve filed for bankruptcy and the court decides paying would cause extreme hardship Your school closed down while you were enrolled or shortly after you left Or if the borrower has passed away the loan is discharged totally These are heavy situations but the system does recognize that sometimes repayment just isn t realistic How Do You Truly Apply Good question It s not exactly a five-minute task but it s doable Reach out to your school or your loan servicer if the school shut down Ask for the Perkins cancellation discharge form Fill it out and send supporting documents proof of your job disability paperwork etc Be victim It might take a meager months to hear back but following up helps One Warning Be Careful with Loan Consolidation Thinking about consolidating your Perkins Loan with your other scholar loans into one big federal loan Hold up If you do that you ll lose your chance to cancel it under the Perkins rules The loan might become eligible for Masses Utility Loan Forgiveness PSLF instead but that s a different and often longer process So if you re in a job that qualifies for Perkins cancellation stick with the Perkins loan for now It might pay off You Have Options If you ve been carrying this loan for years you re supposedly tired of it And honestly you should know that you re not stuck with it forever Whether you re a educator helping kids a nurse saving lives or just someone who s had a tough insufficient years there are paths to forgiveness It won t happen overnight but the relief of seeing that loan balance disappear Totally worth the effort