We’ve spent the last two episodes talking about student loan debt. It’s reshaping the mental health professions. Two doctoral students were kind enough to share with us their own personal stories. In this episode, we talk about the great hope for many who are in the deep end of student loan debt: Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
President Trump’s proposed budget has proposed killing off the federal program, which forgives the remainder of your federal direct student loans if you have worked in a qualifying work setting (any 501c3 nonprofit qualifies) and made on-time loan payments for 10 years. But even if that proposal winds up successful, it would only apply to borrowing that takes place after July 1, 2019. In other words, if you’ve already graduated, the program will continue to exist for you.
Here’s the more detailed discussion. Of course, when it comes to the federal budget, there are a lot of moving pieces. So we understand that the context can change. But as of right now, if you’ve done all the borrowing you plan to do for your education, you’re fine. The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program will remain available to you. It’s those who are entering the profession after you who may have something to worry about.
You can download our entire first season now on iTunes, and read about previous episodes here:
Episode 1: How licensing exams are like the TSA
Episode 2: Licensing exams with Kim Madsen, California BBS
Episode 3: Student debt
Episode 4: Student debt: Two stories