Written By Melanie Lockert
You wanted a job that paid well and was rewarding, so you studied to become a speech-language pathologist (SLP). Being an SLP can help a wide range of people in a meaningful, tangible way.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median speech pathologist salary in 2022 was $84,140. But getting your degree in speech-language pathology could be costly. The average cost of a speech pathology degree can vary depending on where you live, if you’re in-state or out-of-state and if you go to a public or private school.
A Bachelor’s degree from an out-of-state college can set you back $36,065 per year or $144,260 for a four-year degree, according to site CollegeCalc.org.
Getting your master's degree can add even more to that. The Pacific University of Oregon speech pathology program costs a total of $70,278 for the first year for the 2023-2024 academic year. Enrollment at other universities could cost far more. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by your loans, read on. In this guide, we’ll cover speech pathology loan forgiveness and repayment options.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness
If you work for nonprofit organizations or government organizations, you could get all of your student loans forgiven under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program (PSLF). Typical jobs like a librarian or law enforcement are covered, but you could qualify as a speech pathologist as well.
On one hand, you will likely have a lower salary working in the public sector. But after 10 years of service along with 120 monthly payments, you could be eligible to get the remainder of your student loan balance forgiven.
So, if you’re gunning for speech pathology loan forgiveness — meaning all of your debt is completely gone — this is probably your best bet. Heads up though, there are some key eligibility requirements that you must meet to qualify for this student loan forgiveness program.
You must work full-time — not part-time — at a qualified organization or nonprofit, emphasis on the qualified. You don’t make that determination, so it’s best to contact your loan servicer and regularly submit the Employment Certification for Public Service Loan Forgiveness form to make sure you’re on track for federal loan forgiveness.
In order to qualify, you must have Direct Loans (no private loans) in good standing and be on an income-driven repayment plan. After making 120 qualifying payments you can submit the application for PSLF and get your loans forgiven. But if you stay on top of your employment certification and play by the rules, this could be a good bet and way to get loan cancellation.
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Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program
Do you work with low-income communities at an elementary or secondary school or educational organization as an SLP (special education teachers qualify as well)? You may qualify for teacher cancellation for student loans. 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.
You can get forgiveness on your Direct Loans or Federal Stafford Loans, so long as you did not have a balance on October 1, 1998 or thereafter. Apologies to grad students or parents with PLUS loans — your loans aren’t eligible. Neither are Federal Perkins Loans.
In addition to working at an eligible low-income school, you must be what is considered a “highly qualified teacher” that completed five years of service. So what does that even mean?
According to the Federal Student Aid website, a highly qualified teacher is someone who possesses the following qualifications:
- Has a Bachelor’s degree
- Has a state-specific certification for teaching
- Is in good standing with certification
If you’re new to this profession and teaching, this speech pathology loan forgiveness program option requires even more from teachers, depending on what grade you are teaching.
If you have some years under your belt, there are other subject-specific requirements and knowledge you must obtain to be eligible for this program.
You can submit your Teacher Loan Forgiveness Application to obtain speech pathology loan forgiveness after five years of service.
If you’re already committed to working with underserved communities and working in public schools, this may be the avenue to pursue for loan forgiveness help. You can discharge a portion of your loans by working in secondary education or an elementary school. Those in the teaching profession shouldn't ignore this option as recipients can get additional help to pay back student loans.
Income-driven Repayment
You’re not a teacher. You’re not working in the public sector. Are there any other options for speech pathology loan forgiveness? If you have federal loans from the Department of Education, the answer is yes.
Federal student loan borrowers who have amassed a lot of student loan debt that feels impossible to pay off can get on an income-driven repayment plan.
Income-driven repayment is a type of loan repayment program that allows borrowers to pay only a small portion of their discretionary income each month to their student loans. If you still have a remaining balance after a long repayment period — 20 or 25 years — the rest of your loans will be forgiven.
While that can seem like your get out of jail free card, it’s not. Uncle Sam wants his cut for forgiving your loans and may consider the forgiven loans as taxable income. The result? A tax bill that could still set you back financially.
If you save up for the additional taxes and play it smart it may still be a lucrative move. Depending on your eligibility, and what is considered best by your loan servicer you could choose to be on:
- Income-Based Repayment (IBR)
- Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR)
- Pay As You Earn (PAYE)
- Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE), formerly called REPAYE
Plan | Percent of Discretionary Income | Repayment Term |
IBR | 10%* or 15%* | 20 or 25 years* |
ICR | 20% | 25 years |
PAYE | 10% | 20 years |
REPAYE | 10% | 20 or 25 years* |
*Depends on when you borrowed or if your loans were for graduate or undergraduate studies
These plans can be great if you’re truly struggling to pay your bills and your student loans are a source of stress. Income-driven plans can make loan payments more manageable to give you some more breathing room and offer great loan repayment assistance.
Refinancing as a repayment option
If you’re not necessarily looking for speech pathology loan forgiveness but want to ditch your loans fast, refinancing with a new lender can help you pay off debt faster. How? By cutting your interest rate down, so you end up paying less in interest and you can put those extra funds toward your principal balance.
There are many student loan refinancing companies out there, each with different eligibility requirements. Working with one of these companies, you end up getting a refinancing loan that uses consolidation and pays off your current student loans. After that, your debt is gone. You still have your refinancing loan, but hopefully at a better rate and a better repayment term that works for you.
This is a good option for SLPs with strong incomes, good credit, and have no plans to pursue forgiveness.
The downside of refinancing is that you end up giving up those lucrative repayment options like student loan forgiveness and income-driven repayment. That’s a lot to give up, so you want to make sure it makes sense. You can use our calculator to review some prospective payment options and if you pursue refinancing, check out our cash back bonuses.
Employer-sponsored student loan repayment
One option to pursue is letting your employer help foot the bill for your education. I mean, you’re using your degree right, so why not?
A Glassdoor job search shows that there are speech-language pathology jobs out there that offer student loan repayment programs. This perk can help lessen the burden of debt and be a good employee benefit. If you’re looking for a new job, keep this top of mind and see if your prospective employer offers any student loan repayment programs.
Speech pathology loan forgiveness and repayment
Though speech pathology is a highly-skilled profession and useful in communities, it doesn’t come with the same perks that other people in medical or health industries get. Unlike doctors or nurses, who can take advantage of a lot of programs by state to help with their loan repayment, there aren’t really state-based options for speech pathology loan forgiveness.
The unfortunate part is there is a Loan Forgiveness for Service in Areas of National Need Program that includes speech pathologists, but it seems there is no funding for the program. So for now, your best options are the ones listed above. Need any extra guidance? Get in touch with a student loan consultant to help you figure out next steps.
Did you know about these speech-language pathologist student loan forgiveness options?
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Hello, I am currently attempting to apply for teacher student loan forgiveness and I am getting the run around re: eligibility. They are stating that SLPs do not qualify for this type of loan forgiveness? Does anyone have any information? Please advise. Thanks in advance!
Great question Melissa. If you have significant debt and work at a school, PSLF is a far better option than TLF because PSLF has no cap while teacher forgiveness does and it’s a very low cap. If you owe only a modest amount (like 5 to 15k) I would just pay it off as you probably wont qualify.
I’m waiting to hear back on my application. Did you end up receiving the loan forgiveness, Melissa?
I am currently being told by Nelnet that I do not qualify for Teacher Loan Forgiveness, what can I do?
Hi Lee Ann,
I can’t say for sure what your situation is regarding Teacher Loan Forgiveness. But it’s certainly possible that your loan servicer is incorrect. You might try asking for a supervisor to speak to or contacting the student loan ombudsman group: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/disputes/prepare
You can find more information on qualifying for the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program here: https://www.studentloanplanner.com/teacher-loan-forgiveness-application/
Depending on your employment, you may also be better off looking into PSLF. You can find more information on that here:
https://www.studentloanplanner.com/public-service-loan-forgiveness-teachers/
https://www.studentloanplanner.com/public-service-loan-forgiveness/
If you need help regarding your forgiveness plan, please reach out to us: https://www.studentloanplanner.com/hire-student-loan-help/
5-year teacher loan forgiveness success in Minnesota! Took 3 months for them to process but it finally went through!
Heck yeah Mary! Did you get the 5k or 17.5k version?
$17.5 – Hope it gives others hope to go for it!
Who was your servicer, Mary?
FedLoan Servicing
Darn, I have Nelnet and I hear they’re the worst about denying people. I was hoping you had them too and had succeeded!
I don’t think that the provider should matter (keep hope alive!). I called often to check up on the status and the loan company’s role was to ensure that the application is complete, payments had been made on time, etc. They forward “the request” on to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) for final review.
Hello, I will be applying to grad school soon to be a speech-language pathologist and so far don’t have much debt but that will change once I’m accepted I’m sure… Any advice on the best way to proceed? Best types of loans to get or any tips/tricks?? Thanks!
Keep it all federal a lot of SLPs can get PSLF if theyre in not for profit or govt jobs. Also speech language pathologists dont make huge incomes so it’s not uncommon to see them use 20 year IDR plans too.
I have 15 years full-time employment in a low income school working as an SLP. I find this article very misleading to students studying Speech and Hearing Science with hopes to become a SLP. I have paid my loan on time since graduation. I have applied multiple times for both the Public Service Forgiveness and the Teacher Forgiveness and have been denied each time. I know of NO SLPs that have qualified for these services. I’m still in close to $30,000 of student loan debt. Please do not mislead future therapists that working in the schools, hospitals or preschools etc will qualify them for forgiveness. It’s not fair to them. The loans will not be forgiven and they will be paying on them like I have for years and years and years…month after month after month.
P.S. I appealed their decision and contacted everyone I could to review each application. Was told I went to school at the wrong time to qualify, SLPs are not teachers (even though I have an ESA credential) and the last time they said it was because I consolidated. My point is each time I have rec’d a different excuse. None of them being default or lack of payment.
Loans before 2010 often don’t qualify because there’s a good chance they’re FFEL loans – but you can consolidate to a Direct Loan to qualify. Once you consolidate, your payment history starts over at 0 so you need to get 120 qualifying payments after consolidating. You also must be on an eligible repayment plan. Yes, the government makes it difficult – that’s why we offer consults. To help you maximize your forgiveness options.
There are many requirements to qualify for PSLF and Teacher Forgiveness. If you have the right type of loans and are on a qualifying repayment plan, forgiveness is possible. But you can’t use the same qualifying payments for both PSLF and Teacher Forgiveness, and there are a few other nuances to consider, too. I’m sorry for your experience with the program. It’s unlikely forgiveness would benefit you much with $30k in student loan debt, but I encourage you to consider a consult with one of our student loan planners to review your options. They can analyze your loans and pinpoint why your application was denied each time.