Acquire a position at a public school. The Perkins Loan cancellation program provides cancellation for teachers who teach handicapped children in low-income communities, and in subjects for which the state Department of Education has deemed a critical shortage exists. Become a school librarian or guidance counselor, who also qualify. Perkins will cancel a certain percentage of your student loan balance for five years, until you cancel 100 percent of your balance.
Acquire a position in the military, a high-risk family and children agency, law enforcement or become a volunteer. You can qualify for 50 percent cancellation if you qualify for special pay due to your military service in a location of imminent danger. Work for Peace Corps or Vista Service to be eligible for 70 percent cancellation of your loans. Work for a high-risk social agency that aids in providing services to at-risk children to qualify for 100% cancellation of your loans.
Request a Perkins Loan cancellation or forgiveness form from your college's financial aid office, or from the organization that handles your student loan. Note that the form usually cancels loan amounts for a one-year period. Complete the form therefore after you have successfully completed one year of service. Complete the form, request that your employer sign the form if necessary and send in the form.
Teach in a low-income school for at least five years if you have a Stafford loan. Stafford will forgive 5,000 dollars of your student loans, and 17,500 dollars of your loans if you teach math, science or special education. Apply after your fifth year of service. Download the application at the Federal Student Aid website.
Apply for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program if you work in a public service job. You must have made 120 loan payments on time and have a Direct Loan, such as a Federal Direct Stafford Loan, Federal Direct PLUS Loan or Federal Direct Consolidation Loan. Note that the public service requirement encompasses a variety of jobs, including work at a governmental agency, school, nonprofit organization, library, law enforcement or elder care.
Pursue a job in the medical field. Conduct clinical medical research and the National Institutes of Health Perkins Loan Forgiveness program pays up to 35,000 dollars of student loan debt each year. Hospital and invalid care nurses can qualify for The Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program. Sign a service agreement contract and agree to work two years at a select facility to qualify. You will receive in exchange forgiveness for 60 percent of your loan balance. You may sign up for another year to forgive an additional 25 percent of the balance.
Contact your loan provider to have your student loan forgiven or canceled due to extenuating circumstances. You must be able to prove that you are permanently disabled or that paying the loan would be an undue hardship, as determined by your state statutes. Ask that your Perkins or FFEL Program Loan be canceled if your school closed while you were enrolled and you did not transfer the credits to another academic institution.
Pursue a career at a federal agency or at a public service law firm, as The Federal Student Loan Repayment Program allows federal agencies to make payments to you in an attempt to recruit you to a federal agency. Work at a public interest or nonprofit law firm after graduating law school to have your loans forgiven. See out private employers who may also offer to pay off your loans.