Best Professions to Pay Off Student Loan Debt

Student loan debt is second only to mortgage debt in America. An estimated 44.2 million Americans have one or more student loans, and the total debt amount is climbing rapidly towards $1.5 trillion. Because so many graduates end up with crushing student loan debt it’s not a surprise that many individuals are seeking alternatives to expensive universities. Some are even avoiding college altogether. The good news is that there are a number of professions that may be eligible for programs to ease the burden of student loans.

Public Sector

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program assists individuals who make 1230 qualifying payment while working full time for an eligible state, local, or federal government employees or employees for a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization. The program allows individuals in any profession as long as it’s with one of these public employers.

Nurses

Programs such as the NURSE Corps Loan Repayment Program offer paying off up to 60% of nursing education debt over two years and an additional 25% during the third for nurses and nurse practitioners who work in a high need area. California also launched its own version with the Bachelor of Science Nursing Loan Repayment Program which allows registered nurses to have student loans fully or partially repaid.

Jobs in Kansas

The state of Kansas launched a student loan repayment program which will offer income tax waivers for 5 years and /or up to $15,000 in student loan repayments who have obtained a associates degree or higher and who move to one of 77 rural counties in Kansas. Other rural areas of the US have launched their own schemes to attract new residents to their states.

Teachers

School teachers that work in a qualifying school for at least five consecutive years, can have their student loans paid back through the national Teacher Loan Forgiveness program.

Attorneys

This one elicits mixed responses, but law school is quite expensive and law school student debt is usually combined with bachelor’s degree debt, which can easily reach $100,000 or more. Lawyers who work at the Department of Justice for three years qualify for up to $60,000 worth of student loan repayments. The John R. Justice Program also helps lawyers who enter into the public sector.

If you have already obtained your degree and are finding it hard to make your student loan payments, there are a variety of additional loan forgiveness and repayment options available to you. You can find out more about these options you have for federal student loan forgiveness, cancellation, and discharge at the US Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid Website.