Is there student loan forgiveness for planners?

[SoCalPlanner3]

I'm not even sure if I'll work in planning again, cause the field seems so saturated, but it would be awfully nice if a profession that got slaughtered by the recession could qualify.

I see the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program offers loan forgiveness for those who make consistent payments for 120 months, for the professions listed below, but it doesn't appear that planning qualifies:

What types of public service jobs will qualify a borrower for loan forgiveness under the PSLF Program?

You must be employed full time (in any position) by a public service organization, or must be serving in a full-time AmeriCorps or Peace Corps position. Organizations that meet the definition of “public service organization” for purposes of the PSLF Program are listed below.

A government organization (including a federal, state, local, or tribal organization, agency, or entity; a public child or family service agency; or a tribal college or university).
 A not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
 A private, not-for-profit organization (that is not a labor union or a partisan political organization) that provides one or more of the following public services:

o Emergency management
o Military service
o Public safety
o Law enforcement
o Public interest law services
o Early childhood education (including licensed or regulated health care, Head Start, and state-funded pre-kindergarten)
o Public service for individuals with disabilities and the elderly
o Public health (including nurses, nurse practitioners, nurses in a clinical setting, and full-time professionals engaged in health care practitioner occupations and health care support occupations)
o Public education
o Public library services
o School library or other school-based services

http://studentaid.ed.gov/sites/defau...orgiveness.pdf

[OfficialPlanner]

This is a great program but it comes with a caveat:

The “Standard 10-Year Repayment Plan” is one of the eligible repayment plans for receiving Public Service Loan Forgiveness. But if I make 120 payments (10 years) in that plan, won’t I have paid off all of my debt?
Yes, if you make Standard 10-Year repayments for 10 years, you won’t have any debt left to forgive. PSLF is intended for people who have high debt-to-income ratios and qualify for Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) or Income-Based Repayment (IBR) for at least part of their career in public service. However, if you pay under the IBR or ICR repayment plans for even a portion of your PSLF-eligible 120 payments, you would have some debt to forgive after 120 payments, even if you mostly made Standard 10-Year payments during that time.

http://www.ibrinfo.org/faq.vp.html#_It_says_that

In other words, as a borrower's income rises under PSLF, the end benefit is less and less. At least that's my understanding of it.

[Kingmak]

A government organization (including a federal, state, local, or tribal organization, agency, or entity; a public child or family service agency; or a tribal college or university).

If you work for a muni, yes, I would think so. I really need to get my paper work in...thanks for reminding me

[The District]

planning does qualify for PSLF, assuming you're working in the public or 501c3 sphere. for-profit planning firms, real estate developers, etc., won't count, even if you're doing planning.

[SoCalPlanner3]

Good to know. Thanks.

[Vancity]

Does anyone know if Canada has a program like this?

[kjel]

You can also work for a non-profit organization. There are a variety of payment options that qualify under the student loan forgiveness program. I have an income based repayment plan (IBR) which calculates the payment based off my prior year's earning. I submit a short questionnaire and a copy of my tax return. If I stick it out at the non-profit/government sector for the entire 10 years I will have about 70% of my debt forgiven. The forgiven debt is taxed though so be aware of how that might impact you.

[WSU MUP Student]

This is a great program but it comes with a caveat:


http://www.ibrinfo.org/faq.vp.html#_It_says_that

In other words, as a borrower's income rises under PSLF, the end benefit is less and less. At least that's my understanding of it.

I am on the PSLF program and you are correct that as your income rises the benefit becomes less and less. However, if you remember to apply for an income-based repayment plan as soon as you are hired (when your income is probably relatively low for the first couple of years), you can still have some considerable savings in the end over a traditional plan. Also, if you are married and/or have a child and your spouse leaves the workforce for a couple of years at some point in those ten years, you can lower your payments again, since both partners income and the number of people in the family are taken into consideration when calculating payments... Of course, having one partner leave the workforce for a period of time solely to lower your student loan payments isn't probably a great idea.

On the other hand, if your income rises so much that your income based monthly payments become higher than what your payments would be under a traditional plan, you can then switch back to a traditional plan. However, after that point, if you change employers to one that doesn't qualify for the PSLF program you could wind up extending your payments quite a ways into the future.

In the end, no matter what payment plan you are on, or how much your payments are, it doesn't hurt to at least put your paperwork in and apply for the PSLF program. Just being in that program will not alter or extend your payments in any manner, so what have you got to lose?