Nowadays is almost impossible to get a good college education without borrowing money from all the available student loan programs. Must students fail to realize that getting the loan is quite easy, but getting rid of it without paying is a hard nut to crack?

Sometimes in life, one can face situations where it’s just not possible to keep-up with the Sallie Mae student loan payments.

If your loan is from Sallie Mae, there are ways to determine if you qualify for the forgiveness programs in place already.

The most popular firm that originates and services different student loan programs is called Sallie Mae.

Before we get to some of the ways you can have your student loan forgiven, a brief historical facts about this agency is in order.

What is a Sallie Mae student loan?

This agency was originally created by congress in 1972, and it was called Student Loan Marketing Association during the early years.

With Republican efforts the agency was privatized in 1997, a process that wasn’t completed until 2004.

This firm is now popularly known as the SLM Corporation, and it’s the biggest provider and servicer of student loan debts.

The company’s stock is now traded on Wall Street, it gets most of its revenue from offering debt management programs to colleges, businesses and universities. Apart from providing student loans, it also acts as guarantor for many other types of loans.

Can Sallie Mae loans be forgiven?

The truth is a qualified yes! While it’s true Sallie Mae has a forgiveness program, it’s not widely advertised and the qualification criteria are quite hard to meet.

Your physical and financial situation must meet a certain threshold before you can be granted permanent or temporary relief from your student loan debt.

Juts reusing or saying you do not make enough money, is not one of those Sallie Mae student loan forgiveness options.

Below are some of the eligibility criteria for Sallie Mae loan forgiveness programs:

Some Type of Disability – Sallie Mae has programs in place to forgive student loans for any borrower that has suffered significant or permanent mental or physical disability.

Based on the Federal student aid act, any borrower looking to use disability must complete a lengthy discharge application which needs to be submitted with proof of the major disability suffered.

The type of documentation required is based on the disability one is claiming.

For a veteran, you must submit a thorough statement from the veterans Administration confirming that your injury was service related.

For non-veterans, letter from the Social Security Administration office with proof from a medical doctor confirming their inability to work, it’s what is needed to get your student loan discharged by Sallie Mae.

In short, to qualify for student loan forgiveness one must have a letter from a medical doctor testifying to your inability to engage in any meaningful activity, due to a well-documented mental or physical impairment.

The medical impairment must meet at least one of the following criteria;

The medical condition is expected to result in death of the sufferer.

The special impairment has continued for not less than 60 months.

And the medical condition is expected to last at least 5 years or more.

Sorry, if you constantly get common cold or the flu and you’re expected to recover; your student loan will not be forgiven.

If you want more information about the disability discharge student loan qualification criteria click – Here!

Can Your Student Loan be forgiven if you engage in Public Service?

The answer is a qualified yes! First it depends on what type of student loan program you used. The public service student loan forgiveness is geared towards those that borrowed money under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan program.

For one to qualify, your employment must be from a Federal, state, or city government. If the organization your work for is deemed as a qualified non-for-profit entity by the IRS, you might also qualify for the public service student loan program.

Another crucial part of the requirement involves providing proof of steady payments for at least 120 months, which is ten years.

The ten years is counted starting from October 1, 2007, so the first student loan forgiveness will not be granted until 2017. You can get pertinent details at this – Site!

What about Teacher Loan Forgiveness?

Since there are shortages of teachers in our great country, the loan forgiveness program for teachers is meant to entice more graduates to choose the less lucrative teaching route.

The three main qualifying criteria for getting accepted into this program are to qualify as a teacher, the length of teaching term, and the type of school.

A teacher is anyone that provides classroom teachings either in person or digital over the internet. It should also be noted that special education teachers meet the qualification criteria.

To qualify one must an active full time teacher for five consecutive academic years.

Your teaching must be performed in designated underprivileged areas. The school district must also receive Title 1 funds, and also qualify for the popular federal cancellation benefits.

The maximum amount that can be discharged using the Teacher Loan Forgiveness is $17,500 as of this writing in November 2014. You can find out more about this program through this helpful – website

Other Ways You Can Get Your Sallie Mae Student Loans Discharged

Death Discharge – When the borrower dies, the federal student loan is automatically discharged. In some cases, if the main Plus borrower dies the student loan is also automatically discharged.

This does not apply to those that borrowed money directly from financial instructions.

Discharge in Bankruptcy – This is a tough one to get approved for. If you file for chapter 13 or chapter 7 bankruptcies, your student loan may be discharged if the court finds the payment to cause undue hardship.

But to get that favorable ruling, your lawyer must file an adversary proceeding in the same bankruptcy court.

While the proceeding is part of the bankruptcy court, the trial is conducted separately from the main bankruptcy proceedings.

There three stringent requirements that must be met to qualify and they are:

You have concrete evidence that shows hardship will not improve throughout most of the student loan payment period.

You’ve made a good attempt to keep-up with the loan terms before you filed for Bankruptcy protection.

You must have made at least five years of repayment before you can have the balance discharged through this proceeding.

Amazingly if your bankruptcy petition is granted, all collection activities would stop and you would regain your eligibility for all federal student aid programs, if it was restricted.

False Payment Discharge or Student Eligibility – You may be able to have your student loan discharged if any of the following facts applies to your student loan application.

If you’re a victim of identity theft, the loan will eventually be discharged provided you can prove it was not you that benefited from those classes.

If the school lied about your qualifications for the programs offered, or if the training is not beneficial in anyway.

This was included in the federal student act law to keep a watchful eye on those questionable trade schools that just have a revolving door of students without any learning occurring.

In some cases, you might be able to get your student loan discharged if you withdrew from the school on time. The school is required to pay back any un-used portion of the loan to the lending entity.

As you can see, one can qualify for forgiveness of Sallie Mae student loans provided the lengthy qualification requirements are met.

Sallie Mae loan forgiveness programs might just be your last option if you find that maintaining the current payment schedule is just unattainable for the long run.