Student Loan Forgiveness in Pennsylvania
In 2018, Pennsylvania is a great place to live, not only because of its great history, food and exciting destinations worth visiting, but also because it offers strong student loan forgiveness programs to residents buried in student loans.
If you live in the Keystone State and are struggling with your college debt, then it’s time to listen up, because Pennsylvania has some great loan forgiveness programs that you may be eligible for, and which could stand to save you tens of thousands of dollars.
To receive student loan forgiveness in Pennsylvania, all you need to do is review the following programs to pick the one that will work best for your unique situation.
Make sure to pay close attention to the Eligibility Rules, and Application Procedures, because that’ll determine whether or not you qualify for the any of the benefits listed below.
Get Help With Your Loans!
If you're truly struggling with student loan debt, then you should consider paying a Student Loan Debt Relief Agency for help. Why? Because the people working at these companies deal with student loans all day, every day, and they're your best chance at figuring out how to get your loans back under control.For help with Federal Student Loans call the Student Loan Relief Helpline at 1-888-906-3065. They will review your case, evaluate your options for switching repayment plans, consolidating your loans, or pursuing forgiveness benefits, then set you up to get rid of the debt as quickly as possible.
For help with Private Student Loans call McCarthy Law PLC at 1-877-317-0455. McCarthy Law will negotiate with your lender to settle your private loans for much less than you currently owe (typically 40%), then get you a new loan for the lower, settled amount so you can pay off the old loan, repair your credit and reduce your monthly payments.
I've spent 10 years interviewing debt relief agencies, talking to all sorts of "experts", and these are the only two companies that I trust to help my readers. If you have a bad experience with either of them, please make sure to come back and let me know about it in the Comments!
The Pennsylvania Primary Care Loan Repayment Program?
Program Overview
The Pennsylvania Primary Care Loan Repayment offers up to $100,000 in student loan forgiveness to eligible applicants. This loan forgiveness program is for practitioners willing to provide service in underserved communities.
Eligibility Rules
- You must be a US Citizen
- You must participate in Medicare, Medicaid, and Children’s Health Insurance Program
- You must be licensed to practice in Pennsylvania
- You must be employed by a LRP-approved site
How to Apply
- Application: https://apps.health.pa.gov/LoanRepayment/
- Find the official program application here:
The Pennsylvania Bar Foundation – PA IOLTA Board Loan Repayment Assistance Program
Program Overview
The Pennsylvania Bar Foundation – PA IOLTA Loan Repayment Assistance Program offers a varying amount of loan forgiveness to eligible candidates, and was created to help retain and recruit the best and brightest attorneys in the country.
Eligibility Rules
- You must be licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania or
- You must be permitted to practice law under Bar Admission Rule 311
- You must have a valid Pennsylvania Supreme Court-identification number
- You must be in good standing and practice law as an employee of an IOLTA-funded organization.
- Your total gross salary must not exceed $66,000; however if the attorney’s annual net debt service is greater than or equal to 10% of the attorney’s current annual gross salary he/she may apply regardless of the annual gross salary cap.
- Your amount of educational debt based on loans from commercial and government lending institutions, as well as university or other private institutional loans associated with law school and undergraduate educational debts must be greater than or equal to the amount of the LRAP grant. The attorney’s qualifying educational debt must be in satisfactory repayment.
How to Apply
- Find the official program application here: http://www.pabarfoundation.org/what-we-do/pa-iolta-loan-repayment-assistance-program/
Will I Owe Taxes on My Forgiven Taxes?
There is a good chance that you will be taxed on any debt you get forgiven, as the IRS wants you to list any forgiveness benefit received as taxable income in your annual tax filings.
This has created a huge problem for borrowers, especially those who were used to making small monthly payments to their student loan servicer, but who may now be forced to issue a huge lump-sum payment to the IRS.
To help people handle their tax liabilities, I’ve created a new site called Forget Tax Debt, where I offer advice on all sorts of IRS-related problems.
Whether you’re looking for help with Back Taxes, Settlements, Wage Garnishments or some other IRS concern, you can get the help you need by visiting www.forgettaxdebt.com.
Where Can I Go For Questions?
If you have other questions related to student loans, please be sure to check out some of the other pages of my site, where I cover both Federal and Private loans in detail.
To get Help with Federal Student Loans, look at my pages on Federal Loan Forgiveness, The Borrower’s Defense To Repayment Program, the Closed School Loan Discharge Program, Federal Student Loan Bankruptcy Discharges, and Federal Loan Consolidation Programs.
And for Help with Private Student Loans, you’ll want to check out my pages on Private Student Loan Forgiveness Programs, Private Student Loan Consolidation Programs, Private Student Loan Bankruptcy Discharges and Private Student Loan Default Help.
If you have any other questions about Pennsylvania-based student loan forgiveness, or other student load concerns in general, please feel free to post them in the comments section below and I’ll do my best to get you a response as quickly as possible.
Disclaimer:Information obtained from Forget Student Loan Debt is for educational purposes only. You should consult a licensed financial professional before making any financial decisions. This site receives some compensation through affiliate relationships. This site is not endorsed or affiliated with the U.S. Department of Education.
Morning Tim and thank you for your legwork, research, and putting together this site.
I’m inquiring whether there are any PA special ed teacher loan forgiveness programs for teachers in my predicament. Here’s my situation:
– rejected for special education teacher loan forgiveness (multiple times) due to having an existing federal loan prior to October of 1998.
– I meet all other qualifications: 5 consecutive years teaching, low income school district, special ed, highly qualified, etc.
– I even had NEA and Savi look into it for me, who recommended researching state forgiveness.
My research indicates that I’m out of luck, but let me know if there are any state programs or legislation on the horizon to lift the 1998 cutoff. I know I’m not the only one in this boat.
– Joe Rodzinak, Special Education Teacher
Wilkes-Barre Area School District
Hi Joe,
Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s anything specific for your role and your specifications unfortunately… I’m not aware of anything at the present at least. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
Is there a fee charged for a consultation with Federal and Private Stident Loan Agencies?
Hi Pat,
Usually you can talk to them for a couple minutes for free, but they won’t give you real advice without payment.
The Federal Gov. is now not taxing loan forgiveness. Does that mean PA will do the same?
Hi Maria,
The Federal Government taxes loan forgiveness across a number of programs – where did you read they’ve stopped doing that? Please let me know because if that’s true I’ll update the programs that have been impacted by the change.
This is specifically for a total and permanent disability (TPD) discharge.
https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/disability-discharge#is-discharged-amount-taxable