Are you willing to participate as a volunteer with Peace Corps? If you have a heavy loan in your kitty, getting a volunteer assignment with Peace Corps will help you earn forgiveness. If you are wondering what Peace Corps Student Loan Forgiveness Program is all about and how it helps doctors and nurses on volunteer assignments, this is a good place to be.
What is Peace Corps?
It was started as an international peace mission by President Kennedy in 1961, Peace Corps today is a fully sponsored volunteer program by US government. The necessary condition to join the organization is that he/she should be a citizen of America.
Not only is it a great platform for cross-cultural exchange but in recent years, Peace Corps has become the most sought after destination for student loan borrowers to get cancellations/, discharges and forgiveness.
Serving internationally as a Peace Corps activist is a definite boost to the career. On top of it, if you add a loan forgiveness incentive, it becomes invincible.
So here are some key highlights about the Peace Corps Loan Forgiveness program.
Perkin Loans and Peace Corps Forgiveness
If you are a serving Peace Corps volunteer, you have multiple options to get the student loan repayment done. For instance, you can defer the repayment term unconditionally till the duration of your mission. Once you are back to normal activity, you can resume the loan repayment program. The interest accrued for the time is forgiven and cancelled.
Another way to do it is to get an entry into the Income-based repayment plan. Peace Corps tests eligibility under Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) and thus you need to plan ahead to circumvent any untoward financial hurdle in future. If you are a Peace Corps nurse, you can qualify for:
- 15% loan cancellation after 2 years of service
- Additional 20% cancellation after 3rd and 4th year each
- Up to 70% cancellation using Peace Corps Loan forgiveness program
If you have a hefty Perkin Loans, Peace Corps Loan forgiveness program for nurses and teachers is a suitable option.
How PSLF helps full-time Peace Corps nurse?
If you are a full time Peace Corps health care professional, you can qualify for forgiveness in two ways:
1. Make Direct Loan repayments
Make regular repayments towards your loan like most Direct Loan borrowers do. You can make repay your loan through:
- Pay As You Earn (PAYE model)
- Income-based Repayment (IBR)
- Income Contingent Repayment (ICR)
These three repayment schemes earn forgiveness after making 120 full qualifying payments on a monthly basis. Combine this with Peace Corps career, and you have untaxed forgiveness coming your way after 10 years of full-time service.
2. Apply for economic hardship deferment
This is an exclusive policy offered to Peace Corps volunteers who can’t make loan repayments. Loan forgiveness programs for nurses come after making a certain lump sum payment towards the Direct Loan fund.
Note: 365 days makes one year of service. Moreover, consolidation of loans can lose you the eligibility under Student loan forgiveness for nurses.
No comments:
Post a Comment