This website has already discussed how certain jobs can have a major impact on your student debt burden. Indeed, some jobs increase the amount of money that you may have to pay off student debt, and other positions, like those in the military, offer educational assistance. However, you do not need to join the armed services to find jobs that pay student loans.
There are a number of public service roles that offer educational assistance that do not involve a commitment with the military. Of course, as mentioned in a few prior articles, many workers in the public sector are entitled to public service loan forgiveness, which can be a huge benefit to borrowers who qualify. However, there are also a number of non-military jobs that pay student loans for employees who work in a role for a certain amount of time.
I first became aware of such programs when I served with AmeriCorps during the summers after my first and second years of college. As a college student, I taught politics and government to inner-city kids through a summer enrichment program run by a local charity. All of the employees at the program, including myself, were AmeriCorps employees.
As AmeriCorps employees, in addition to our regular salaries, all of us were entitled to an educational award of $1,000 so long as we worked 300 hours at the program. It was kind of a pain in the butt to log our hours to be eligible for this award, and to redeem the educational award at the end of our service. I think it took around 9 months to receive this money after the first summer I worked with AmeriCorps! However, I eventually saw this money in my student account as an undergraduate, and I was able to use this cash for tuition and other educational expenses.
In addition, all of the full-time AmeriCorps employees at the program at which I worked were entitled to even more money. In exchange for logging a certain amount of hours, each of the full-time AmeriCorps employees were entitled to an educational award of around $5,000 and it appears that the maximum educational award now available is closer to $6,000. This is a solid amount of money that can put a dent in the educational costs of most student debt borrowers.
AmeriCorps positions are solid jobs that pay student loans. In addition, AmeriCorps jobs are offered in most locations throughout the United States, and such roles involve a number of different fields. My position involved education, but there are jobs in counseling, vocational training, and other areas.
In addition, many prominent public service organizations are affiliated with AmeriCorps. Indeed, corps members with Teach For America, CityYear, and other organizations also count as AmeriCorps workers. As a result, positions at these organizations are jobs that pay student loans, since employees are entitled to AmeriCorps educational assistance.
Even if you are not interested in any of the positions offered by AmeriCorps, there are still plenty of jobs that pay student loans. However, it is a little more difficult to find such positions, since AmeriCorps is one of the few major opportunities that offers educational assistance on a wide scale. Typically, other jobs that pay student loans fit into a few categories.
There are a number of jobs within the legal industry that provide educational assistance. Some states have programs that offer student loan forgiveness in exchange for being a public defender or assuming another legal role in the state. Since public defenders typically receive lower salaries than attorneys in the private sector, educational assistance can help people enter this field. In addition, other programs help attorneys who work for certain government organizations, such as the Department of Justice.
Attorneys who seek student loan forgiveness need to conduct research in order to see if they may qualify for such programs. The availability of educational assistance largely depends on the location where the attorney hopes to work and the type of position the lawyer will assume. Fortunately, there are a number of online guides that include numerous different educational assistance programs for attorneys, and these resources should be consulted when looking for jobs that pay student loans.
The educational assistance afforded to teachers is similar to the help provided to some lawyers, in that assistance is largely dependent on where a teacher works and what their circumstances are. There are some federal programs that are available to teachers, although some of the programs require that teachers meet a number of requirements. In addition, some states have targeted incentives for teachers, which might motivate some teachers to move to those states and begin teaching.
Again, the funds available are highly dependent on an individual’s particular circumstances. As a result, teachers looking for jobs that pay student loans should consult a number of resources to ensure that they are considering every possible opportunity. Fortunately, there are a number of online resources that can be consulted when searching for educational assistance for teachers.
In the end, there are a number of student loan forgiveness programs available to employees with student loans. Some student loan forgiveness programs are available to workers in a large swath of fields, and other programs are only available to individuals who work in a number of discreet areas. However, everyone searching for jobs that pay student loans should do their research to ensure that they receive the most money possible from their work to pay off student loans.