Higher education does not come cheap, but if you are a teacher trying to pay back loans for getting your education and becoming certified, you might be eligible for loan forgiveness for teachers. With all the programs out there, there is bound to be a loan forgiveness program for teachers out there that is right for you.

Depending on your situation, you may qualify for one of the following student loan forgiveness programs for teachers:

Perkins Loan Forgiveness for Teachers
As a teacher, you may well qualify for this program and up to 100% forgiveness of your Federal Perkins Loan in case you were a full-time teacher in secondary school system either a nonprofit elementary or public and:

• You taught in a school with students coming from low-income households
• You are a teacher in math, foreign language, science, bilingual education or any subject that your state determines has a shortage of teachers
• You are a special education teacher

In order to get this type of loan forgiveness for teachers, you must get the correct forms from the school that holds your loan and administers this type of program. The school is the deciding party as to whether or not you qualify and there is no appeal process once the decision has been made.

If you are granted forgiveness, you may receive up to 100% cancellation of the loan as follows:

• 15% canceled per year for your first and second years of teaching
• 20% canceled for years three and four of teaching
• 30% canceled for the fifth year

The cancellation amount includes interest that is accrued during each year.

Obama Student Loan Forgiveness for Teachers
President Obama did not want people to be punished just because they sought higher education so he came up with a solution in the form of a new way of providing loan forgiveness for teachers. Under his plan, those with existing loans with payment duration of twenty years will get the most benefit.

If you are a teacher who has already gotten to the full twenty years of repaying the student loan since you graduated college, the remaining dues are forgiven and you do not have to pay the balance. If you are a teacher who has been in service for at least ten years, you do not have to wait until you reach twenty years as all your remaining payments will be forgiven.

The Obama program applies to loans that were received through Federal Direct, Perkins and Stafford. This plan also lessens the cap to 10% from 15% when all the taxes are paid. The provisions of the Obama plan is set to go into affect on July 1, 2014.

Other Types of Loan Forgiveness for Teachers
The Perkins plan and the Obama plan are not the only ones offering loan forgiveness for teachers. There is also Stafford Loan Forgiveness for Teachers which grants forgiveness to full-time teachers who have taught five consecutive academic years in specified secondary and elementary schools serving students from low-income families.

The combined total forgiveness is $17,500 in principal plus interest on an FFEL (Federal Family Education Loan) loan. This program does come with very specific eligibility requirements in terms of when you obtained your loan, if you are in default of your loan and any outstanding balances on the loan. There are also many qualifying requirements with regards to when you began teaching, what you teach and where you teach.

Direct Loans and FFEL loans have very similar requirements as the Stafford Loan program. With any of these programs that grant loan forgiveness for teachers, it is important that you know what all the qualifications are before applying for cancellation.

The idea behind all of these plans is to grant loan forgiveness for teachers who have put in years of service and so they should not be required to spend their teaching income repaying loans that could take decades to repay. The hope is that this will also encourage others to pursue a career in education and not be discouraged by the extent of loans they will get and what they will be required to pay back over the course of their teaching career. And with teachers in high demand all over the country, loan forgiveness for teachers is a great way to encourage others to join one of the greatest and most rewarding professions.