Loan Forgiveness for OT/PT Students!!

[jewel11786]

---

Members do not see this ad.

There is a petition being passed around from the White House that will ask the government to forgive student loans for OT and PT students. The petition needs 76,000 signatures by April 12th. Please fill it out and pass it along to your networks and lets help our fellow OT students get through their education with less financial worries!

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/add-physical-therapists-and-occupational-therapists-federal-loan-forgiveness-program/rzJSKTGV

 

[rcludo]

This is great and I'll definitely sign, but I'm confused - I was talking to an OT I know the other day and she was telling me how OTs get loan forgiveness after 10 years of working in certain places that qualify for it (not sure of the specifics). Is this program not already in place?

 

[Member20]

Yeah, I think as long as you work for a public/non-profit organization full time, you qualify. It doesn't matter what kind of work it is... as long as while you're working there, you're able to make 120 monthly payments on time (takes approx 10 years). =)

 

[OTlove88]

Yeah but the link with the petition would mean we get loan forgiveness regardless of the tax status of our employer aka if working for home health or a private clinic. Non-profit organizations don't typically pay as high.

 

[jewel11786]

I believe this would apply for federal loans and as stated at this link http://www.finaid.org/loans/forgiveness.phtml OT/PT loan forgiveness programs are currently only included for some hospitals or private facilities. Many doctors and teachers are eligible for federal loan forgiveness for certain circumstances by the US government and some federal loans can be forgiven after 10 years, as mentioned by another poster. http://studentaid.ed.gov/sites/default/files/public-service-loan-forgiveness.pdf I think this petition can also help support the awareness and NEED for OTs!!

 

[Sunny324]

Are you sure that OTs are included in this bill? Other than the link you posted, I was not able to find any mention that bill HR 1426 S.975 would add OTs to the federal loan forgiveness program, just PTs.

If this is true I would love to see some documentation beyond a petition so I could contact my local representative directly.

 

[lavitae]

I signed it. It seems impossible to get 50,000 + signatures by next week though... (April 12) :/

 

[OTguy]

signed it too. I sure hope it gets passed.

 

[bebob]

Are you sure that OTs are included in this bill? Other than the link you posted, I was not able to find any mention that bill HR 1426 S.975 would add OTs to the federal loan forgiveness program, just PTs.

If this is true I would love to see some documentation beyond a petition so I could contact my local representative directly.

I think you're right that OT's are not part of the original propsed bill but I guess you can always petition more. However AOTA is working on this. So OT's can be part of NHSC still (see the discussions from last year's thread http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=924271 ).