Many people have to use student loans to complete their education. If you were one and are now faced with student debt, the federal government has some very good news for you. There were two new programs that began in July 2009 that can help you to pay your student debt in full.

The first program that is being offered is the income based repayment program or IBR. This new option for paying of student loans can help to keep payments affordable for student loans. For some qualifying persons with low incomes, you may not have to pay anything at all. Nearly all debtors will pay less than ten percent of their income for student loans and the cap is fifteen percent.

If you are enrolled in these programs, and still have debt after twenty-five years of payments, the debt is then forgiven. Time that your loan is in deferment or when you are not required to make payments on the student debt are also included in the twenty five year period required for debt forgiveness.

In addition, interest that is in excess of the minimum payment will be paid by the government on your behalf.

You will find that there are some special requirements for this program, but be if you qualify, it can save you money.

The second program is for persons that work in certain industries. This program offers forgiveness of any student debt that is still outstanding after you have worked for ten years at a qualifying employer.

Examples of qualifying employers include government agencies and 501(c)(3) nonprofit agencies. Again you will need to check to see if your employer qualifies you for this program. State, local, tribal and federal organizations do qualify.

The time period is retroactive until October first 2007 so older payments may count toward the total of 120 payments. The earliest anyone could qualify for debt forgiveness is October 1, 2017. So that means that in just over eight years you could be finished paying for student loans forever.

Student debts that are covered include all Stafford loans and Grad PLUS loans. If consolidated loans are included in the Direct Loan Program, they are also included. Guaranteed loan program debt will have to be switched over to Direct Loans in order to qualify.

If you are still paying your loan on the standard program, the debt can seem overwhelming. Ensure to see other options that are offered to you that can reduce your monthly payments. In the event that you work for a government or nonprofit agency, make sure to find out if you qualify for the second program. Always keep you loans current and if you have problems in making payments seed a deferment or forbearance.

Dawn Enstruthe writes for website Ginko Financial which has details of ways to refinance after a divorce and bad credit auto loan refinancing.

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