One of the biggest advantages of federal student loans over private loans is that borrowers can qualify for loan forgiveness. Loan forgiveness erases the remaining balance of a loan, leaving the borrower free of the debt.
There are a few ways to qualify for student loan forgiveness.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) is one path to loan forgiveness. Under PSLF, if you work for a non-profit organization or a government (local, state, or federal) you can qualify for loan forgiveness. Once you make 120 payments on your loan balance (at least ten years of payments) the government forgives your remaining balance.
Teacher Loan Forgiveness lets teachers who work for five consecutive years in a low-income school or educational service agency get up to $17,500 of their debt forgiven.