I teach Leadership and Change to working adults pursing graduate degrees in public administration and nonprofit management at George Mason University. They are a great group and one of the students shared the following information regarding the federal student loan debt forgiveness program for those who worked for nonprofits for ten years. You probably haven’t head about it, but you want to! The bill has just been reported out of committee and is headed to the White House. Let’s hope that the President will sign it.
This is the latest information on the forgiveness program.
H.R. 2669: The College Cost Reduction and Access Act – Courtesy of Maryland Nonprofits
On Friday Sept. 7, both houses of Congress approved a conference committee report including employees of 501(c)(3) organizations as ‘public sector’ employees for purposes of a new loan forgiveness provision. Among numerous other provisions (see below), the legislation defines employment by 501(c)(3) tax exempt organizations as a ‘public sector job’ making the individual eligible for loan balance forgiveness after 10 years of payments under an income contingent repayment plan.
Senator Barbara Mikulski was a member of the conference committee that accepted the House’s inclusion of 501(c)(3) employees, and Representative Sarbanes was a sponsor of the expanded loan forgiveness provision and inclusion of nonprofit employees, and Representative Van Hollen also co-sponsored the legislation.
In addition, Senator Cardin, and Representatives Gilchrest, Ruppersberger, Wynn, Hoyer and Cummings joined in voting for the conference report.
The nonprofit community across the country faces a serious challenge with the onset of “baby-boomer” retirements from its management and professional ranks. At the same time, costs of college and advanced education have skyrocketed, and many young people otherwise interested and committed to public service in nonprofit organizations are effectively forced to seek higher compensation elsewhere in order to repay college debt that rivals the cost of home-ownership just a decade or two ago.
At the same time, there is heightened concern among the public and in Congress itself with the effective and ethical operation of tax exempt organizations.
H.R. 2669 is described by the House Education and Labor Committee as “The largest investment in higher education since the GI Bill…”. In addition to loan forgiveness for public service, it includes:
- Interest rate reductions on subsidized student loans,
- Caps on required repayments based on available discretionary income,
- Increase in Pell Grant amounts and eligibility.
[...] Scott Nance wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptThey are a great group and one of the students shared the following information regarding the federal student loan debt forgiveness program for those who worked for nonprofits for ten years. You probably haven’t head about it, … [...]
What if you have paid back some years already
Nancy brings up an interesting question regarding those who have been paying on their student loans for a while, and whether the new law applies to these people. I would recommend reading the signed law. Further, the legislation will identify a controlling agency, you can contact that agency. The easiest thing is to contact your congressional representative – House rep. or senator. Please come back and post what you learn. Good luck!
Now that this has become law, do you know how we can take advantage of this? I’m graduating in May and I’m going into a non-profit. I have lots of debt and am expecting a low salary.
These unsecured loans’ features will also help you to build a budget and stick to it easily. When credit cards are included in a budget, the complexity increases because you have to foresee many things in order for the budget to be useful. Predicting ones behavior is complicated enough, if you have to predict market conditions and income variations in order to see if you will be able to meet credit card payments that keep changing as a consequence of a variable rate, things can get really complicated.
I immigrated from India and I started my education at the age of 35 while in United States. While working as a clerk, I completed my BS degree. I then learned of the program by Ross University’s medical school and of the availability of US student loan to its students and I joined the program. Unfortunately, after the basic science, I was dropped from the program for I did not pass one subject. I managed to join the Unversiad Ibero Americana and completed the program. The total expense was through loan which I thought, I could repay.
I now found admission to residency is a gamble and took one year additional course in nursing, this too through student loan. In fact I I am deep the loan. I also had two children and had to educate them. My only choice was forbearence to manage the loans and home mortgage. Though I was making regular payments, from next month, I should pay $ 650.00 per month in addition to $ 250. 00 I pay to Sallie Mae. The total amount, approximately $122,000.00. I would very much appreciate your assistance to reduce the loan and monthly payment. I would very much appreciate your help.
[...] Federal student loan forgiveness for nonprofit employees - 3,443 views [...]