Student Loan Forgiveness, Grants, & Financial Assistance for Teachers

Teaching is both a profession and a calling. What it is not is especially lucrative. Few occupations make such a huge impact for so little financial gain.

Fortunately, options are available for managing the financial load that confronts many teachers. Student loan forgiveness and specialty grants, as well as other forms of financial assistance, can be a godsend for individuals facing monetary challenges.

Every little boost helps because, on average, teacher compensation struggles to keep up with inflation. From 2015-16 to 2024-25, teacher salaries increased by 27%, but when adjusted for inflation, there was a deficit of 5.1%, according to the National Education Association.

NEA President Becky Pringle has acknowledged that educators in some states are finally seeing long-overdue pay increases – increases she traces to union-advocacy – but warns that the Trump administration’s policies threaten to roll back those gains, leaving teachers more squeezed financially than ever before.

For instance, the NEA estimated in 2023 that teachers, especially those in financially-challenged school districts, spend between $500-$750 of their own money annually on classroom supplies.

While the work of prodding state legislators and local school boards to enact improvements goes on (endlessly, it seems), teachers have more avenues available to better their paycheck-to-paycheck lives than simply waiting for politicians to act.

“Concentrate on what you can control rather than waiting for policy changes,” Liam Hunt, Director of Research at IncomeInsider.org, said when asked for his advice for teachers.

“First, get your loans into the right repayment structure. Next, build an emergency fund, even if it’s just a three-figure sum. Teacher contracts can create income gaps that lead to high-cost borrowing if not properly prepared for. Third, think about summer income generation (i.e. tutoring,  landscaping) to speed up your debt payoff plan or to build savings. And don’t let student loan payments prevent you from contributing to your state teacher retirement system—that employer match is, in essence, free money that you can’t claim later.”

Grants for Teachers

The hills are alive with grants (and fellowships) for alert, ambitious teachers.

Want your classroom to collaborate on a children’s book? There’s a grant for that.

Got a plan to boost your school’s creative capacity?  Got some innovative thoughts about expanding your students’ facility for innovation? There are grants for that, too, and more.

There are national grants, regional grants, and state grants. There are subject-specific grants and invent-a-topic-and-inspire-the-judges grants. Example: a grant providing support for a teacher to purchase and maintain small animals in the classroom, designed to help develop compassion among students for other living creatures.

The possibilities are not endless. They only seem that way. Grants are available in the following areas:

• STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) grants.
• Literacy grants.
• Classroom grants.
• Soft sciences (culture, humanities, economics, employment, environment, gun-violence prevention) grants.
• Professional development.

While grants, scholarships and loan forgiveness programs vary state to state, nationwide programs as of 2023 abound, including the following:

• Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program
• TEACH Grant
• Perkins Loan Forgiveness
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness
• ACS-Hach Scholarships
• Knowles Teaching Fellows Program (which awards grants to cover the aforementioned classroom expenses that many teachers take on themselves).

The NEA Foundation is a great source for available grants, as are StudenTreasures Publishing, DonorsChoose.org, Teach.com and countless others.

List of grants for teachers:

• Stem – STEMgrants.com lists over 100 opportunities for grants in STEM. The Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship (AEF) Program gives K-12 STEM teachers an opportunity to spend 11 months working for a federal agency.
• Humanities – The National Endowment for the Humanities has several grant programs geared toward language, literature, history and the arts. The Philanthropic Ventures Foundation offers grants to music, theater, visual arts and dance education.
• Professional development – The McCarthey Dressman Education Foundation provides grants for up to $10,000 per year for teacher development.
• Class achievement – The NEA Foundation has Student Success Grants up to $5,000 are available for members that teach in public schools. The funds are meant for classroom supplies.

Student Loan Forgiveness for Teachers

It’s always a good idea to watch the news regarding student loan forgiveness for teachers. That’s especially true now with the Trump administration’s restrictions on the PSLF program.

The PSLF allows government employees, including teachers, firefighters, and many who work for nonprofits, to have their student loans canceled after they’ve made payments for 10 years. A proposed White House-generated crackdown on employer eligibility could add uncertainty for borrowers.

“PSLF and Teacher Loan Forgiveness remain intact despite all the ongoing political rhetoric,” Hunt said. “These programs are established law. The bigger issue for teachers is making sure they follow the correct procedures. It’s not uncommon for teachers to unknowingly disqualify themselves by being on the wrong repayment plans.”

Twenty-six states currently offer student loan forgiveness opportunities. Many of these programs are aimed at teachers, especially those with special training, or who are willing to tackle high-need areas.

Other programs are available as well. Consider:

Teacher Loan Forgiveness

Keep in mind that while there is no ironclad guarantee of loan forgiveness, the likelihood of success is high when teachers work in designated types of schools for a contracted amount of time. As with all financial arrangements, read — and understand — the fine print.

Under the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program, you can have up to $17,500 in student debt forgiven (depending on the subject area) by teaching for five full and consecutive years in a low-income school or educational-service agency. Other qualifications may apply.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) is a little more complicated.

Candidates for PSLF must:

• Work for a government agency or for a qualifying nonprofit.
• Work full-time for the agency or nonprofit.
• Have Direct Loans (or consolidate other federal student loans).
• Repay their loans on an income-based plan.
• Make 120 qualifying payments.

When all these qualifications are fulfilled, the balance of the student-loan debt can be forgiven. Better still, PSLF can be combined with the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program — first one, then the other.

“PSLF is still the best option for teachers employed by qualifying public schools or nonprofits,” Hunt said. “After 120 qualifying payments on Direct Loans under an income-driven repayment plan, the leftover balance is forgiven tax-free.

“Teacher Loan Forgiveness offers up to $17,500 forgiveness for math, science, and special education teachers after five consecutive years in low-income schools, but it’s typically less beneficial than PSLF for teachers with higher balances.. The key is to understand that PSLF requires Direct Loans and income-driven payments, which some teachers miss out on because they’re on standard repayment plans.”

Perkins Loan Cancellation for Teachers

If you took out a qualifying Federal Perkins Loan before September 30, 2017, and have stuck with the plan, congratulations. You’re still on track to have up to $60,000 in student debt wiped out at the end of four or five years.

Employment-based loan cancellations typically cancel a percentage of the loan over time (15% for the first two years, 20% for the next two and 30% for the fifth year.) Those holding Perkins loans should check with the college or university or their designated servicer to obtain the necessary cancellation forms and instructions.

Remember to keep up with the regulations. First and foremost, you must maintain employment as a full-time teacher in certain designated subjects in a teacher-shortage area or educational service agency serving low-income students.

Also remember that Perkins loans taken out after September 30, 2017, when the program lapsed, are not eligible for cancellation.

State-Sponsored Student Loan Forgiveness Programs

The best way to explore state-sponsored student loan forgiveness programs and any specific eligibility requirements is to contact your state’s Department of Education.

What the states have in common is that many programs are aimed at helping teachers in hard-to-fill disciplines and/or underserved geographic areas. Beyond that, there are programs that benefit more than just teachers in hard to fill disciplines. And other programs that also benefit non-teachers.

Maryland, for instance, offers the Workplace Shortage Student Assistance Grant Program for students who plan to work in specific career/occupational programs such as child care, human services, teaching, nursing, physical and occupational therapy and social work.

The Ohio Department of Higher Education provides funding to Ohio’s colleges and universities to support students in innovative academic programs in eligible STEM and STEM education fields.

Some states that offer teacher-centric programs also go beyond the classroom. Connecticut, for instance, has a Teacher Mortgage Assistance Program that helps teachers become first-time homeowners in their communities.

The best advice for those in the education field seeking financial help (and for non-teachers, too): do your research. There’s help out there if you know where to look.

Debt Relief Assistance and Counseling

Clearly, it’s not easy to get by on a teacher’s salary. It certainly helps to be part of a two-income family, but that’s not always possible. In either case, disciplined budgeting is a skill worth learning.

If you’re a teacher who’s already in a financial bind with unmanageable credit card debt, there are ways out, including debt-consolidation personal loans (with their lower interest rates) and cards that combine super-low or zero-interest teaser rates with small fees when you transfer existing balances.

If you’re a teacher who lacks the discipline or the expertise to master a tight budget but you’ve resolved to get your financial house in order, consider credit counseling with a nonprofit debt management agency. Their experts will negotiate with your creditors and work out a repayment plan that fits your budget.

Don’t feel bad or ashamed about turning to nonprofit credit counselors. That’s their expertise. They may not be proficient at solving a geometry proof,  balancing a chemical equation, or answering a Jeopardy clue about the date the Magna Carta was signed, but they can help you get out of credit card debt and, by extension, manage the financial challenges that so many individuals in the field of education face in 2025.