Rural School Consolidation (Country Time)
Rural school consolidation is sometimes easier to get than typical loan consolidation. Should you choose to go to school or find work in a depressed or rural area of the country, there are benefits that you can get on your loan consolidation options. Sometimes rural areas attempt to attract new residents and workers to improve the economic status of the area. These cities and towns work with the federal government to offer benefits like rural school consolidation and loan forgiveness for people in occupations such as teaching and medicine (like nursing).
Consolidation
Rural school consolidation is geared toward borrowers who have attended particular rural schools. The federal government maintains a list of schools that are eligible for this type of consolidation of their student loans. These schools are able to attract students to their programs by making great financial aid offers and including these types of loan consolidation programs. They offer benefits such as extended repayment for high value loans and very low interest rates, sometimes lower than the federal standard.
Forgiveness of Rural School Loans
Some programs are even able to do one better than rural loan consolidation. They offer loan forgiveness for people whose occupations can improve their area’s economic status. People in professions like nursing and teaching often benefit from these types of loan forgiveness options when the holders move into rural areas. Often, the cost of living in these areas is considerably lower and so are the wages.
This can leave the professional unable to make payments on their outstanding student loans and rural school consolidation loans. Instead of having the professionals go to areas with higher pay rates, the local government offers loan forgiveness. There are conditions that have to be met, they are:
- You have to be a “new borrower” after October 1, 1998.
- You can have a certain amount of the loans, dependant upon the program, forgiven for teaching or nursing in a rural or low income area.
- At least one year of the work experience has to be after October 1, 1998.
- Defaulted loans can typically not be forgiven without payment arrangements to the original lender or consolidator.
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