Is a student loan with citibank eligible for loan forgiveness?

lisbell0115: Is a student loan with citibank eligible for loan forgiveness?
I currently have a student loan with citibank. I am hearing about the loan forgiveness programs for teachers (I teach special education). The things that I have read say it has to be a direct loan, and I am having trouble figuring out if I might qualify.

Answers and Views:

Answer by NotAnyoneYouKnow
lis:

The answer to your question doesn’t depend on who your lender is, the answer depends on what type of loan you have with that lender.

If Citibank provided you with Stafford or Perkins loans, as part of the Federal Student Aid program, then yes, you may be eligible for the loan cancellation/forgiveness program.

If Citi provided you with private, non-government loans, then the answer, unfortunately, is no.

If you have a Perkins loan, you may be eligible for an out-and-out cancellation of the loan – provided that you satisfy all of the program requirements. Qualifying for a complete cancellation requires several years of service – in fact, it will take 5 years of full-time employment to have the entire loan amount canceled. Of course, you’ll have to make payments for those 5 years, while you’re satisfying the requirement, so only the balance remaining after 5 years of payments will actually be paid off.

The Stafford program isn’t a cancellation program – it’s a forgiveness program – which means you can’t have your entire loan wiped clean. Instead, there’s a maximum of $ 17,500 of forgiveness available to you. Again, there’s a LONG list of qualifications – including, again, 5 years of continuous service.

For more information on both programs, you can visit the US Department of Education’s Student Aid on the Web site here:

https://studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/charts/teacher#teacher-cancellation

and here:

https://studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/charts/teacher

Check your loans and make sure you have a Perkins or Stafford – then check those two pages for all the details. Good luck – I hope this helped!

Answer by v b
There are two approaches.

One is when you get the loan, you agree in advance to teach where they tell you to. If done correctly, the loan is forgiven and you do not have a tax consequence.

The other one is if an employer or charity wants to reward you for teaching and pays part of your loan for you. If they do, the amount they pay is taxable income to you.