Loan Forgiveness
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program is intended to encourage individuals to enter and continue to work full-time in public service jobs. Under this program, you may qualify for forgiveness of the remaining balance due on your William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program loans after you have made 120 qualifying payments on those loans while employed full-time by certain public service employers.
The Minnesota Teacher Shortage Student Loan Repayment Program was established to provide student loan repayment assistance to teachers providing classroom instruction in a teacher shortage area in Minnesota. The purpose of the program is to encourage teachers to teach in Minnesota in designated shortage areas. Shortage areas include teacher licensure fields in high demand statewide, geographical regions within the state experiencing teacher shortages and teacher licensure fields in high demand within regions of the state. (See the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for a list of the current shortage areas).
The Minnesota Agricultural Education Loan Repayment Program was established to provide student loan repayment assistance to teachers providing agricultural education (grades 5 through 12) at a Minnesota school during the current year.
The 2020 Teacher Shortage Loan Forgiveness Program Report is now available online:
The report was produced in response to legislation passed in 2015 requiring the Minnesota Office of Higher Education to report annually on the Teacher Shortage Loan Forgiveness Program.
The program is designed to provide student loan debt relief, in the form of repayment awards, to teachers working in shortage areas identified by the Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Education. To better align with the program’s design, the Office of Higher Education refers to this program as the Teacher Shortage Loan Repayment Program.
Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes 136A.1791 Subd. 9, the report must include the number of individuals who received loan repayments awards, the licensure areas and economic development regions in which the teachers taught, the average amount paid to a teacher participating in the program, and other summary data identified by the commissioner as outcome indicators.
