Are You Drowning in Student Loan Debt — Get Those Loans Forgiven

Have you been struggling to pay off your student loans? I know it took me a long time to get through my payment plan and I didn't have a big, huge sum of money to pay back. I can't imagine how hard it would be with tens of thousands of dollars in loans to pay back and what if you didn't get the job you hoped for or lost your job shortly after getting into the work force. What should you do? There are actually ways to have your student loans forgiven.

There is a 2013 report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that more than a quarter of working Americans qualify for some type of student loan forgiveness from the government but many do not know they can apply for it.

According to Credit.com, here are four ways you might be able to make your student loans go away:

1.  Loan forgiveness for health care workers.  You might have to move to an area that doesn't have enough doctors and nurses.  But there are government programs that will pay off tens of thousands of dollars in student debt if you're willing to.

2.  You can have a Perkins loan forgiven if you haven't paid it back within five years.  You have to fit certain criteria, but a lot of people do.  Firefighters, soldiers, lawyers, and even people who've worked at Head Start can qualify.

3.  Teacher loan forgiveness programs.  If you're a teacher who's willing to work at an underprivileged school, there are a few different government programs that will repay your loans for you.

4.  "Total and Permanent Disability Discharge."  Basically if you've been on disability for more than five years and it's reasonable to assume you'll be on it ANOTHER five years, you might be able to get your student loans forgiven.