A Unique Approach to Student Loan Debt

You have received your first student loan payment invoice and nearly fainted. How am I going to pay for this? Well, why not teach? Through a program offered by AmeriCorps, you can teach in exchange for paying down student loan debt.

If you get in to the AmeriCorps program, you will be sent to a rural or urban location where you will teach. In exchange, you get automatic forbearance on your loans and additional money to be applied to their repayment.

The specific situation is easily amended, but the latest figures show a nice bonus. If you are new to the program, you can receive an award of nearly $4,800 at the end of each year to apply to your loans. That means roughly $10,000 paid towards your debt for the two years of service.

The AmeriCorps program is designed to get college educated individuals into areas where help is needed. In exchange, you get help with your student loans. It is a win for both groups and a popular program. So, who can take advantage of it?

You might think the program is restricted to teachers. It is not. Any recent graduate can qualify. Basic teaching skills can be taught to you, but they really want you to apply our college expertise to the various locations you are assigned.

Where can you expect to end up? Well, rural areas are possible, but the big current trend is to place applicants in urban areas of large cities like Chicago, Atlanta, New York City and so on. Anywhere from Seattle to Miami is possible.

The Teach for America program is one of those efforts that actually makes the government seem competent at times. It gives you the advantage of paying off your loans faster while giving areas in need a source of education and inspiration.

The biggest complaint of most college graduates is they feel like they are no longer making a difference. Well, Teach for America gives you a chance to avoid that issue and pay down your student loan debt. How could you possible resist?