The Biden administration’s plan to improve student loan relief is a welcome move - especially considering the average person owed college debts of around $20,000. 2020’s pandemic-led loss of jobs didn’t make the loan repayment any easier. If you qualify for student loan forgiveness, make sure to use an eSignature tool to keep the application process completely touch-free!
In this article, we will take you through the most popular forgiveness options and how to fast-track the appeal with Signeasy.
Which student loan forgiveness is for you?
When you apply for forgiveness (or cancellation) of your student loan, you are asking for the federal government to cover some or all of your loan repayment installments. Here is a list of the most common types of forgiveness plans and the conditions under which you may qualify for the same:
- Income-Driven Repayment Forgiveness (IDR) - You apply for the IDR program if you find yourself financially unable to pay off the debt within the standard 10-year plan. Once accepted into this program, you will have to shell-out smaller installments within 20-25 years, based on your discretionary income and family size. And amounts pending after the revised repayment period will also be completely forgiven. All you need to do is fill in and submit the IDR application form.
- Perkins Loan Cancellation and Discharge - Those who have a Perkins loan and are employed in public service (teachers, nurses, librarians, cops, etc) can get up to 100% of the loan forgiven in five years. The college you received the loan from will be able to offer you the form to apply for this cancellation program.
- Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) - You qualify for this forgiveness scheme if you work full-time at an eligible non-profit or government agency and are willing to make 120 monthly loan payments. Any balance amount after these installments will be canceled. You may download the application form here.
- Teacher Loan Forgiveness - Get up to $17,500 of the loan amount forgiven, if you have been teaching full-time at a low-income education institute for athletes for five years. All you need to do is submit this Teacher Loan Forgiveness application.
Aside from these federal forgiveness schemes, there are also some loan discharge programs that provide relief in case of emergencies such as school closure, death, bankruptcy, and total and permanent disability. That’s not all, here are some state-level Assistance Programs that will repay a portion of your student loan debt -  Florida Bar Association’s Loan Repayment Program and Washington’s State Health program. Be sure to find out if there are any similar special forgiveness programs that you may be eligible for, within your state’s jurisdiction.
6 Steps to use Signeasy for loan forgiveness forms
eSignature solutions, like Signeasy, allow individuals to fill in and promptly sign loan forgiveness forms on their desktop, mobile, or any other device. See how simple and straightforward it is to use the Signeasy app to complete loan forgiveness applications:
- Upload the standard form for the loan forgiveness or discharge on to the app
- Choose the option to self-sign
- Fill in the loan and personal details
- Verify if all the required fields are filled in accurately
- Click on the signature field to add your electronic signature
- Email the document to the assessing body or upload it onto their website.
How Signeasy fast-tracks loan forgiveness applications
To get the albatross of a student loan off your neck, you would want to finish the application for forgiveness as soon as possible. eSignature solutions that are simple, secure, intuitive, and legally-binding can help digitize and speed up the process. Here are some of the biggest benefits of signing your forgiveness applications electronically:
- No need to print and scan - Ever since the pandemic, you are not likely to have easy access to office printer-scanners or couriers. In such a situation, e-signature solutions make document signing touch-free. Thanks to the convenience of electronic signing, you don't have to ever worry about driving around to find your nearest Kinkos or Bluedart.
- Sign from anywhere and anytime - Whether you are at home or in the office, you can fill, sign and send the application with just a few clicks of e-signature mobile apps (try out the intuitive iOS and Android apps by Signeasy).
- Store sensitive documents securely - Â Forgiveness application forms tend to have a lot of personal details and sensitive information, all of this is stored securely on the cloud. And if there are any errors, you can just pull out this filled-in form and make edits - saving a lot of time.
- Reduces errors in the form - Thanks to prompts offered by Signeasy’s ‘document fields’ feature, you can ensure that appropriate fields are filled and signed by the various parties. In this manner, you don't have to ever worry about your form being rejected for not being filled-in completely.
See just how smooth the loan forgiveness application can be with eSignature, by checking-out Signeasy’s 14-day trial!
