The state has come up with a new way to hopefully help with the state’s teacher shortage. It has come up with a new program that offers teachers up to $24,000 in student loan forgiveness. State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler says the amount of loan forgiveness depends on the teacher’s job and where it is located. Those selected will receive between $12,000 and $24,000 worth of loan forgiveness over four years.
“So if you’re a teacher teaching in a rural isolated school district, that would be the lower end. But if you are a critical need teaching area, whether it would be computer science or ag teacher and went to a rural isolated school district, you would be able to double that,”
said Baesler. The program is designed to curb teacher shortages. Districts can use the program to recruit or keep teachers.
What are the eligibility requirements of the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program?
- Your Federal Student Loans (Direct Loan or Federal Family Education Loan) must have originated after Oct 1, 1998.
- If you are in default on a subsidized or unsubsidized loan, you are not eligible for forgiveness of that loan unless you have made satisfactory repayment arrangements with the holder of the defaulted loan. By consolidating your loans, you can often get out of default to make sure you receive the forgiveness you deserve.
- Loans in which you are seeking forgiveness or principal reduction must have been made prior to finishing your five years as a teacher.
- Any time you spent teaching to receive benefits through AmeriCorps cannot be counted toward your required five years of teaching for Teacher Loan Forgiveness.
- You must have completed 5 full academic years as a full-time teacher, and at least one of those years must have been after the 1997-1998 school year.
- You must have been employed in an elementary or secondary school that
- is a title 1 school that qualifies for funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and
- has been determined by the department of education that the schools total enrollment is made up of children who qualify for services under title 1 and,
- is listed in the Annual Directory of Designated Low-Income Schools for Teacher Cancellation Benefits.
- Note: All elementary and secondary schools operated by the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE)—or operated on Indian reservations by Indian tribal groups under contract with BIE—qualify as schools serving low-income students. These schools are qualifying schools for purposes of this loan forgiveness program, even if they are not listed in the Annual Directory of Designated Low-Income Schools for Teacher Cancellation Benefits.
- If you were teaching at an eligible educational service agency after the 2007-2008 academic year, it can be applied to your consecutive five years of teaching.
If your school is eligible under the above conditions for one year but not the rest, they may still be counted to your five consecutive years of teaching.
Who is considered a teacher in the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program?
A teacher is a person who provides direct classroom teaching or classroom-type teaching in a nonclassroom setting. Special Education teachers are considered teachers.
How long must I teach to qualify for Teacher Loan Forgiveness?
You must be a teacher for five full and consecutive academic years after the 1997-1998 school year to qualify for the for principal reduction in the Teacher Loan Forgiveness program.
Service Completed Before Oct 30. 2004
If your 5 consecutive years of teaching began before Oct 30, 2004, you have a few options:
You may receive up to $5,000 in loan forgiveness if you were:
- A full-time elementary school teacher in mathematics, reading or writing or other areas of the schools curriculum.
- A full-time secondary school teacher, teaching in a subject that was related to your academic major.
You may receive up to $17,500 in loan forgiveness if you were:
- A highly qualified full-time mathematics or science teacher in an eligible secondary school; or
- A highly qualified special education teacher whose primary responsibility was to provide special education to children with disabilities, and you taught children with disabilities that corresponded to your area of special education training and have demonstrated knowledge and teaching skills in the content areas of the curriculum that you taught.
Service Beginning on or after October 30, 2004
If your 5 consecutive years of teaching began after Oct 30, 2004, you have several options:
- You may receive up to $5,000 in loan forgiveness if you were a highly qualified full-time elementary or secondary school teacher.
- You may receive up to $17,500 in loan forgiveness if, as certified by the chief administrative officer of the school where you were employed, you were a highly qualified full-time mathematics or science teacher in an eligible secondary school; or
- A highly qualified special education teacher whose primary responsibility was to provide special education to children with disabilities, and you taught children with disabilities that corresponded to your area of special education training and have demonstrated knowledge and teaching skills in the content areas of the curriculum that you taught.
Unable to complete an academic year
If you were unable to complete an academic year, that year may still count to your Teacher Loan Forgiveness five consecutive years if:
- Half of the academic year was completed, or
- Your employer considers you to have completed your contract requirements for the purposes of salary increase, tenure and retirement.
You were unable to complete the academic year because
- You returned to college, on at least half-time credits, in an area that is directly related to your teaching position and or to better your performance in said position; or
- You had a condition covered under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA); or
- You were called into active duty in the Armed Forces for more than 30 days.
Am I a highly qualified teacher under the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program?
To be a highly qualified teacher, a public elementary or secondary school teacher must:
- Have obtained full state certification as a teacher; or
- Passed your state teaching license examination, and hold a license to teach in that state
- Have not had certification or licensure requirements waived on an emergency, temporary, or provisional basis.
In addition to the above—
You may be qualified as an Elementary school teacher who is new to the profession if you:
- Have at least a bachelor’s degree; and
- Have shown to have adequate teaching skills by passing any state tests, or having subject knowledge of reading, writing, mathematics and other core areas of elementary education.
A middle or secondary school teacher who is new to the profession is highly qualified if the teacher also
- Holds at least a bachelor’s degree; and
- Has demonstrated a high level of competence in each of the academic subjects in which the teacher teaches by
- Have shown to have adequate teaching skills by passing any state tests, or having subject knowledge of reading, writing, mathematics and other basic areas of elementary education.; or
An elementary, middle, or secondary school teacher who is not new to the profession is highly qualified if the teacher also
- Holds at least a bachelor’s degree; and
- Meets the applicable standards of an elementary, middle, or secondary school teacher who is new to the profession; and
- Demonstrates competence in all the academic subjects in which the teacher teaches based on a high objective uniform state standard of evaluation that is set by the state for both grade-appropriate academic subject matter knowledge and teaching skills;
- Is aligned with challenging state academic content and student academic achievement standards and developed in consultation with core content specialists, teachers, principals, and school administrators;
- Provides objective, coherent information about the teacher’s attainment of core content knowledge in the academic subjects in which a teacher teaches;
- Is applied uniformly to all teachers in the same academic subject and the same grade level throughout the state;
- Takes into consideration, but is not based primarily on, the time the teacher has been teaching in the academic subject;
- Is made available to the public upon request; and may involve multiple, objective measures of teacher competency.
Is the school at which I teach a low-income school?
Each year, the U.S. Department of Education publishes a list of low-income elementary and secondary schools. Questions about the inclusion or omission of a particular school must be directed to the state education agency contact in the state where the school is located.
What if I teach at an educational service agency?
If you teach at an educational service agency, your teaching service may qualify if the consecutive five-year period includes qualifying service at an eligible education service agency performed after the 2007–08 academic year.
What is my service was at multiple schools?
You are still eligible for teacher loan forgiveness if you worked at multiple schools. You would need to submit two teacher loan forgiveness applications from both school administrations.
How do I apply for Teacher Loan Forgiveness?
There are two programs that you can apply for:
- Teachers in Low Income (Title I) Schools;
- Teacher/Perkins Loan Forgiveness.
Both of these programs have a 5-year teaching requirement. Depending on the program, you can be forgiven $5,000, $17,500 or 100% of your Perkins Loans Forgiven (forgiveness is not taxable).
