Talk about Forgiveness: New Programs for Future Teachers

It’s no secret that the average college graduate accumulates thousands of dollars in student loan debt. With some financial aid decreasing and tuition increasing, the future college graduate has to wonder if he or she can indeed make those loan payments on their beginning post-college salary.

While various entities and organizations address the problem of affordable higher education on a fairly consistent basis, some are offering innovative methods with which to accomplish the goal.

Just last month, a new loan forgiveness program for Iowa teachers who teach in critical shortage areas such as math, science and special education was unveiled. This program, the third such program for which Iowa teachers can qualify may forgive up to $9,000 in student loans over a period of five years. It’s called the Iowa Student Loan Teacher Educational Loan Forgiveness Program and has been implemented by a non-profit organization that uses interest income from student loans to benefit students.

According to the Des Moines Register, an Iowa teacher that qualifies for all 3 loan forgiveness programs could have as much as $30,500 over five years in student loans forgiven.

An article in the Stanford Report on October 4th, and picked up by the Associated Press the following day, highlights a new loan forgiveness program. The Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP) is a Master’s program that will forgive half of a student’s loan after teaching for 2 years and the full amount after teaching for four years.

Student’s who qualify for the STEP program could receive up to $65,000 in loans and other aid to cover program and other expenses, including living expenses.

Stanford University is matching a $10 million dollar gift from an alumna to fund this program. The only criteria, as far as where a teacher must teach in order to qualify for the program, seems to be somewhere between the grades of Kindergarten and the twelfth grade for public school teachers and underserved communities for private school teachers.

Although it may be tempting to pursue such a career specifically to benefit from loan forgiveness, it may be best summed up by one Drake University student who plans on teaching English and therefore would not qualify for Iowa’s loan forgiveness program. “Teaching is a passion,” she states, “You have to love what you do. You don’t want to go into it just because they’re going to pay off all my loans.”

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