Contact your federal loan servicer for details. You can search for underserved areas and Health Professional Shortage Areas on the Heath Resources & Service Administration website. If private loans also qualify. Health care workers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic would have some of their student loan debt forgiven under a new bill introduced in Congress. Yes, parent borrowers are eligible if they consolidate with a direct consolidation loan and enroll in an income-contingent repayment plan, Yes, based on parent's disability, not the student's. The National Health Service Corps Students to Service Loan Repayment Program offers up to $120,000 in tax-free student loan repayment (up to $30,000 a year for four years) for fourth-year medical students who agree to work full-time for at least three years in a Health Professional Shortage Area. The loan forgiveness program, created last year by the state legislature, will pay off up to $5,000 per year for five years to those who are accepted, primarily educators working in rural school districts or those in positions that are difficult to fill. To apply, complete the unpaid refund loan discharge form and submit it to your loan servicer. Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program encourages employment in … States With Medical Loan Forgiveness Programs. To apply, a family member or other representative must submit proof of death, such as a death certificate, to the loan servicer. Below are the most common loan forgiveness options for physicians. Editorial Note: Forbes may earn a commission on sales made from partner links on this page, but that doesn't affect our editors' opinions or evaluations. While the price of admission to the medical field is … Some places to look include the following. This information may be different than what you see when you visit a financial institution, service provider or specific product’s site. Available for direct and FFEL loans, you may qualify for unpaid refund discharge if you withdrew from school and your college didn’t return the required funds to your loan servicer. Forgiveness through Public Service Loan Forgiveness is tax-free. To qualify for IDR plan forgiveness, you must be eligible for one of the following IDR plans and have a balance after making payments for the full repayment term: You can apply for an IDR plan online or by contacting your loan servicer. This may influence which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. There are seven different loan discharge programs for federal loans. If you're pursuing a different medical school loan forgiveness option, check with the program's administrator to see if skipped payments affect your eligibility. If you’ve attended college, chances are you have student loan debt. Physicians must be on active duty to qualify, and the benefit is paid out in $40,000 annual disbursements over three years. An income-driven plan will reduce your monthly payments while you work toward meeting the program requirements, increasing the amount that is forgiven. If you will be borrowing for medical school, consider taking out a loan toward the end of your senior year of undergraduate for that purpose. And while our site doesn’t feature every company or financial product available on the market, we’re proud that the guidance we offer, the information we provide and the tools we create are objective, independent, straightforward — and free. Check where you need to work. Payments made under an IDR plan count as qualifying payments for the purposes of PSLF. Legislation has been proposed to forgive the student loans of doctors and other frontline health care workers responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, lawyers in Florida may qualify for the Florida Bar Association’s Loan Repayment Program.