How to Qualify to Have Student Loans Forgiven For a Registered Nurse

Though nursing has the potential to be an incredibly rewarding career, the financial cost to become a registered nurse (RN) can be high. Many RNs find themselves with tens of thousands of dollars of student loan debt and do not know how they are going to afford to repay their loans. Many RNs find themselves working in high-paying positions that they do not enjoy because they do not believe that they can afford to work for less because of their student loan debt. Fortunately, there are a variety of ways to have loan debt from Stafford and Perkins student loans forgiven.

Instructions

1

Work for a public service organization, such as a low-income clinic, public school or county hospital. Committing to working full time for a public service organization for 10 years qualifies you to apply for the Loan Forgiveness for Public Service Employees Program (see Resources). Participants of this program make payments on student loans for a period of 10 years. Any Perkins and Stafford loan balances that remains after this period are forgiven.

2

Agree to work at a critical shortage facility to two years and apply for the Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program (NELRP) (see Resources). Participants in the NELRP are eligible to have up to 60 percent of their Perkins and Stafford student loan balance forgiven in exchange for working two years in a critical shortage facility.

3

Volunteer with the Peace Corps (see Resources). Fifteen percent of your Perkins student loan debt can be canceled after volunteering for one year. Another 15 percent of your Perkins student loan debt can be forgiven after a second year of service. Twenty percent of your Perkins student loan debt can be forgiven after completion of your third and fourth years volunteering, totaling 70 percent of your Perkins student loan debt after four years.