Written By Bethany McCamish
Paying off debt as a teacher is never easy. Texas recognizes this need and wants to keep teachers in the community, working and thriving. Therefore, the state offers several teacher loan forgiveness programs to help keep qualified educators.
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Top programs for teacher loan forgiveness in Texas
Federal student loan forgiveness options are available for teachers regardless of where you live in the U.S.. But Texas, in particular, offers additional state-specific student loan forgiveness programs for teachers.
1. Teach for Texas Loan Repayment Assistance Program
The Teach for Texas Loan Repayment Assistance Program is designed to keep teachers in areas with teacher shortages. The Texas Education Association publishes a report every year that determines these teacher shortage areas.
Under this program, you may have a max amount of $5,000 awarded each school year. You can apply for this teacher loan forgiveness annually for five years. You can then be awarded a total of $20,000 over that time period while teaching in Texas.
To be eligible, you must:
- Be certified in a shortage teaching field and/or be teaching in a shortage of teachers location
- Be a full-time preschool, elementary or secondary school teacher at the time of application
You can complete this teacher loan forgiveness application yearly. Applications have an early deadline in June. But priority falls to renewals. The state budget is limited, so applications for new teachers are accepted only periodically. See the Administrative Rules for additional details.
2. Math and Science Scholars Loan Repayment Program
Texas wants to attract highly qualified math and science classroom teachers to their public schools. Certainly, these are teachers who showed mastery as science and math majors in college.
The Texas Math and Science Scholars Loan Repayment Program currently offers a maximum forgiveness amount of $10,000 each year. But the program is contingent on fund availability, and the amount forgiven is subject to change annually. Additionally, you’re required to teach at least four consecutive years at a Title 1 public school in Texas (applicable to teachers who applied after September 2019).
To be eligible, you must:
- Complete an undergraduate program in mathematics or science with at least a 3.0 GPA on the 4.0 scale.
- Become a certified teacher under Texas Education Code.
- Be a full-time classroom teacher at a Title 1 Texas public school in science or mathematics. For this program, you must teach at least four hours per day to qualify as full-time.
- You can’t have received any other repayment assistance on your loans including grants like TEACH or teacher loan forgiveness.
You must submit this teacher loan forgiveness application annually for consideration. The deadline is before the start of the school year (typically before the end of August).
Federal student loan forgiveness programs for teachers in Texas
Teacher loan forgiveness in Texas isn’t limited to state programs. Federal student loan forgiveness is one of the best options for teachers. That is to say, you can have anywhere from $5,000 to your entire loan principal forgiven, depending on the forgiveness program.
3. Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program
The federal Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program is an incentive for highly qualified teachers to work in low-income schools. If you teach special education, mathematics, or a science-related field of study, you can qualify for $17,500 of student loan forgiveness. However, if you teach any other subject matter, you only qualify for $5,000 of student loan forgiveness.
To be eligible, you must:
- Be a highly qualified elementary school teacher or teach at the secondary level
- Work full-time as a teacher for five years
- Be employed at a low-income school for at least one year out of those five years
- Student loan accounts must be in good standing
- Have loans disbursed after 1998
You can only submit this application after five consecutive years of teaching service. The chief administrative officer at your school will need to certify your application. For example, this designated person might be your superintendent, principal or one of your assistant principals.
Any approved leave you take during this time doesn’t take away from your five years of service. At least, so long as your superior decides you fulfilled your contract. For example, this might include maternity leave or short term disability leave, depending on your school district.
4. Public Service Loan Forgiveness
Public Student Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) offers student loan relief for teachers, public service professionals and those working for a nonprofit 501(c). This program can forgive all qualifying Federal Direct Loans.
To be eligible, you must:
- Work full-time for a qualifying agency
- Have qualifying loans (Direct Federal Student Loans)
- Make 120 qualifying payments
- Be on an income-driven repayment plan
You can submit your initial PSLF Application for Forgiveness at any time. Once you’re approved, you must submit an Employment Certification Form yearly. This will help ensure you’re still in line to receive forgiveness.
5. Federal Perkins Loan Cancellation
Federal Perkins Loans are no longer distributed, so this is only an option if you already have this type of loan. This program allows for all or some of your loans to be canceled on a yearly basis.
Perkins Loan Teacher Cancellation is based on the duties you perform daily, not your actual position title.
To be eligible, you must:
- Teach at a school serving a low-income population (all special education teachers are eligible for this program)
- Teach in a field that’s considered having a shortage by the state such as mathematics or bilingual teachers
You can have up to 100% of your loans canceled over five years. Each year, submit a cancellation form at the start of the year and end of the year. To apply, you must contact your school or student loan servicer for the application and details. You’ll be told if you need cancellation or discharge of your student loans.
Double up on teacher loan forgiveness, only if you can
Many of these teacher forgiveness programs can’t overlap, but they can stack. You may not be able to receive forgiveness from them at the same time. But if ordered properly, you can take advantage of more than one program if needed.
If you need help navigating the muddy waters of student loan forgiveness, consider hiring a professional. Schedule a consultation and we’ll help you regain control of your student loan debt pay off plan.
