Pepperdine University Admissions Office

Loan Forgiveness

Loan forgiveness programs are available to alleviate student loan debt for graduates in eligible fields of employment or post-graduate programs.  Loan forgiveness means that the portion of loans 'forgiven' does not have to be repaid by the student.  With most programs (see below), a portion of loan debt is forgiven over a period of time after the graduate has entered loan repayment and made several loan payments.

NOTE: Eligibility and the application process are determined by the organizations below and not the GSEP Financial Aid Office.

Teaching Credential students (prospective teachers):

Federal Stafford Loan Forgiveness for Teachers

Qualifying graduates who teach at eligible schools may be eligible to have up to $5,000 in federal loans forgiven for full-time elementary school teachers or up to $17,500 for full-time math or science teachers in secondary schools or qualified special education teachers. For more information go to http://studentaid.ed.gov/ or contact your student loan lender.

Assumption Program of Loans for Education (APLE)

Note: The availability of the APLE program is dependent on adequate funding in the California state budget each year.

Qualifying graduates who teach at designated California low performing schools may be eligible to have up to $11,000 in federal loans forgiven (that is, the graduate will not have to pay back this portion of the loan).  Teachers in math, science or special education may be eligible for an additional $1000 each year plus an additional $1000 each year if they teach in a school ranking in the lowest 20 percentile of the Academic Performance Index, making the total amount of loan assumption up to $19,000.  For an application and more detailed information go to http://www.csac.ca.gov/ .

Psychology doctoral students:

National Health Service Corps

"The NHSC LRP recruits fully trained health professionals who agree to provide primary health services in NHSC community sites.  In return, the NHSC LRP assists clinicians in their repayment of qualifying educational loans that are still owed."  For more information, go to http://nhsc.bhpr.hrsa.gov/applications/lrp/ 

NEW in 2009: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 set aside $500 million to address health professions workforce shortages across the nation. $300 million will be going to the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) and almost $200 million of that will be directed to loan repayment awards for new applications and renewals. ARRA also allocated $24 million for new NHSC Scholarships and $20 million for state loan repayment programs to be allocated by states. NOTE: Psychologists are eligible for the loan repayment program but not the scholarship program. For more information visit http://nhsc.hrsa.gov/members/loan_repayors/

National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities

"The National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD) offers educational loan repayment to qualified applicants through the Loan Repayment Program for Health Disparities Research (HDR-LRP). The HDR program provides an incentive for health professionals to engage in basic, clinical or behavioral research directly relevant to health disparities research."   For more information go to http://ncmhd.nih.gov/our_programs/loan/index.asp

National Institutes of Health

Information to multiple loan repayment programs offered by the National Institutes of Health.  For more information go to http://www.lrp.nih.gov/about_the_programs/index.aspx

Education doctoral students:

Chancellor's Doctoral Incentive / Forgivable Loan Program

"The purpose of the Program is to increase the number of individuals who demonstrate potential as doctoral students and who may be interested in applying for future CSU instructional faculty positions. The program is open to applicants who will be new or continuing full-time students in doctoral programs at accredited universities anywhere within the United States. The CDI loan is $10,000 per year for three years and forgivable for those teaching full- or part-time at a CSU campus. Being awarded the CDI loan is not a guarantee of employment at the CSU."  For more information go to http://www.csulb.edu/colleges/cba/mba/forgivable-loan-memo.html