The Scoop on Student Loan Forgiveness for Speech Language Pathologists (2024)

FAQs

Does a speech pathologist qualify for student loan forgiveness? ›

In fact, you could be eligible to get up to $17,500 in speech pathology loan forgiveness under the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program. To qualify for this program, you must teach full-time during the school year at a qualifying school or organization for five consecutive academic years.

Median unpaid student debt was $50,000 (n = 164) for SLPs in cities/urban areas, $40,000 (n = 200) for SLPs in suburban areas, and $30,000 (n = 90) for SLPs in rural areas. SLPs were asked if they had applied to any of three loan forgiveness and cancellation programs for educators.

Today's announcement brings the total loan forgiveness approved by the Biden-Harris Administration to $143.6 billion for 3.96 million Americans. This action builds on President Biden and his Administration's efforts to provide debt relief to as many borrowers as possible as quickly as possible.

The good news is that around 50% of speech language pathologists work for a potentially qualifying employer. Once they reach 120 qualifying payments, they can apply to have their remaining loans forgiven tax-free. Learn more about PSLF here.

Therefore, if you leave your job at a qualifying employer after meeting the PSLF eligibility requirements but before you apply for loan forgiveness, you will not be eligible for forgiveness since you must be working for a qualifying employer at the time you apply for forgiveness.

Based on our data, we've seen speech-language pathologists with up to $150,000 in student loan debt and an average salary of around $50,000.

Absolutely. But before you begin negotiating, your loans will probably need to be either in default or near default. Some lenders may suggest an alternative repayment plan, but if your loans are far beyond hardship assistance, you can start trying to negotiate a student loan settlement.

The average student loan debt amount is slightly over $30,000. However, many borrowers owe $50,000 or more in student loan debt. This isn't impossible to overcome using the right repayment methods.

“Today we are helping 277,000 borrowers who have been making payments on their student loans for at least a decade,” said U.S. Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal. “They have paid what they can afford, and they have earned loan forgiveness for the balance of their loan.”

Did the student loan forgiveness get approved? ›

FACT SHEET: President Biden Cancels Student Debt for more than 150,000 Student Loan Borrowers Ahead of Schedule. Today, President Biden announced the approval of $1.2 billion in student debt cancellation for almost 153,000 borrowers currently enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment plan.

“As of today, we have approved loan relief for nearly 3.9 million borrowers who were counting on the Biden-Harris Administration to fix the broken student loan system and provide the forgiveness they earned and have been waiting for,” said U.S. Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal.

If you're pursuing loan forgiveness, including through PSLF, any period of deferment or forbearance may not count toward your forgiveness requirements. This means you'll stop making progress toward forgiveness until you resume repayment.

Please visit the U.S. Department of Education's PSLF site for more information or call 1‑800‑433‑3243 and speak to a PSLF support representative.

Volunteering full-time for the AmeriCorps or Peace Corps also counts as qualifying employment for PSLF. Employers that do not qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness include: For-profit government contractors (as opposed to directly working for a government agency) For-profit business.

Due to the exceptional need for primary care physicians, loan forgiveness programs in these fields are more widely available than for other specialties. Loan forgiveness and/or repayment programs are sponsored by national, state, and local governments, as well as some private organizations.