Education

Teacher Loan-Forgiveness Programs Curbed by Recession

By Stephen Sawchuk — May 27, 2009 1 min read
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So reports The New York Times in this article.

The cuts apparently mean that young professionals who took out loans expecting them to be forgiven as they completed their first four or five years of teaching are basically stuck with them. The article also suggests that the Obama administration’s move to end lender subsidies and to originate most student loans in-house could effectively shut down these types of teacher-loan programs.

As I read this story, I couldn’t help but wonder about the federal TEACH grants, which I wrote about here. Although called “grants,” some experts say they really ought to be called “loans,” since these grants convert to a federal loan if a recipient doesn’t fulfill the criteria, which include teaching in a “shortage” subject for four years in a high-need school. What is going to happen to TEACH grant recipients if states begin to eliminate positions in high-need fields? What if they can’t secure a job?

Is your loan-forgiveness program being scaled back? Let us know.

A version of this news article first appeared in the Teacher Beat blog.