Defer your loan payments. In cases of economic hardship, you can defer your student loan payments for up to three years. Even if you have already defaulted on your agreement, you can usually ask for a deferment, which will bring your account current.
Participate in a volunteer program. If you find yourself defaulting on a student loan, there are ways to get a percentage of your entire loan forgiven or you may get the entire loan forgiven over time by volunteering. If you volunteer for AmeriCorps for 12 months, for instance, you will receive nearly $5,000 to apply toward your student loan. The Peace Corps offers the chance to cancel 15 percent of your Perkins Loan for each year of service up to 70 percent.
Take a teaching position at inner-city schools. Under the National Defense Education Act, teachers who choose to teach at certain inner-city schools can receive 15 percent off of their student loan debt for each of their first two years of teaching at the school. If you stay for four years, you get 20 percent deducted from your debt each of those first two years, and you get an additional 30 percent deducted for your fifth year. The American Federation of Teachers has other programs designed to help reduce your student loan debt, too.
Serve the public interest. If you graduated from law school, you may be able to get help repaying your defaulted student loans by giving your time to serving non-profit organizations and the public interest. The Equal Justice Works organization offers free webinars and resources designed to help law school graduates and professionals learn about public service programs they can participate in for student loan forgiveness. The American Bar Association also provides a list of Loan Repayment Assistance Programs and other resources for student loan repayment for those who take public service jobs.
Join the army. By joining the Army National Guard, you can get up to $10,000 of your defaulted student loan debt forgiven. The United States Army and the United States Navy offers up to $65,000 in student loan forgiveness for serving our country in those respects. The Air Force offers up to $10,000 to apply to your outstanding debt, too.