Wondering whether you can get your federal student loans forgiven for your service as a teacher? 
Learn about the forgiveness program to see whether you qualify. Under the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program , if you teach full - time for five complete and consecutive academic years in a low - income school or educational service agency, and meet other qualifications , you may be eligible for forgiveness of up to $17,500 on your Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans and your Subsidized and Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans. If you have a Direct Consolidation Loan or a Federal Consolidation Loan , you may be eligible for forgiveness of the outstanding portion of the consolidation loan that repaid an eligible Direct Subsidized Loan, Direct Unsubsidized Loan, Subsidized Federal Stafford Loan, or Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loan. 

What are the eligibility requirements? 
You must not have had an outstanding balance on Direct Loans or Federal Family Education Loan FFEL Program loans as of Oct. 1 , 1998, or on the date that you obtained a Direct Loan or FFEL Program loan after Oct. 1 , 1998. You must have been employed as a full - time, highly qualified teacher for five complete and consecutive academic years , and at least one of those years must have been after the 1997 98 academic year. You must have been employed at an elementary school, secondary school, or educational service agency that serves low - income students a " low - income school or educational service agency ". The loan for which you are seeking forgiveness must have been made before the end of your five academic years of qualifying teaching service. 

Teaching for Less Than a Complete Academic Year 
If you were unable to complete a full academic year of teaching , that year may still be counted toward the required five complete and consecutive academic years if you completed at least one - half of the academic year ; and your employer considers you to have fulfilled your contract requirements for t

user: I want to know if I'm eligible for a teacher loan forgiveness.

assistant: Are you in default on a loan?

user: I am, yes.

assistant: Then first you should make satisfactory repayment arrangements with the holder of the defaulted loan, if you don't do that first then you wouldn't be eligible.

user: And what do I have to do if the loans are with different loan servicers?

assistant:  just submit a separate form to each of the servicers.

user: In my case, I taught at school that was included in the TCLI Directory only during my first year of teaching. Would the rest of my teaching years be counted towards the 5 years to qualify for the teacher loan forgiveness?

assistant: Yes, don't worry, the rest of your teaching years on that school will be counted as well.

user: How can I know if I qualify as a highly qualified teacher?

assistant: You must meet some basic requirements to qualify as a highly qualified teacher, with additional requirements depending of if you are a elementary or secondary school teacher and whether you're new to the teaching profession.

user: And how do I know if I'm teaching at a low-income school? I worked in an Indian reservation school.

assistant: All elementary and secondary schools operated by the Bureau of Indian Education BIE or on Indian reservations by Indian tribal groups qualify as low-income schools.