Americorps

Americorps seems to be a promising opportunity to help the community and pay off student loan debt while doing so.
After successfully completing your AmeriCorps term of service, you are eligible to receive an AmeriCorps Education Award. You can use your AmeriCorps Education Award to pay education costs at qualified institutions of higher education, for educational training, or to repay qualified student loans. The award is $4,725 for a year of full-time service, and is prorated for part-time. You can access the award in full and part, and can take up to seven years after your term of service has ended to claim the award.


If you successfully complete a term of service in VISTA, you are eligible to receive either an AmeriCorps Education Award or an end-of-service stipend of $1,200. The AmeriCorps Education Award option is subject to available education trust allocations to AmeriCorps*VISTA. You must select the AmeriCorps Education Award option prior to the start of service.,br>

You can use your AmeriCorps Education Award in any of the following ways—or a combination of them.


Three Options for Using Your AmeriCorps Education Award
Repay Qualified Student Loans

The national service legislation defines qualified student loan as a loan backed by the federal government under Title IV of the Higher Education Act (except PLUS Loans to parents of students), or under Titles VII or VIII of the Public Health Service Act.


You may also use your AmeriCorps Education Award to repay a student loan made by a state agency, including state institutions of higher education.


AmeriCorps Education Awards may not be used to repay any other type of loan, even if the loan was obtained for educational purposes. You can use your AmeriCorps Education Award to repay defaulted student loans as long as the loans meet the definition of qualified student loan.

additional information about Americorps can be obtained at: http://www.americorps.gov

Intro

I am a 31 year old college graduate with student loans to pay off. During my college education I switched majors from Elementary Education to Criminal Justice; I ended up pursuing a career in Education and was certified by using the alternative route to teacher certification (go figure). I taught for two years and then after childbirth I decided to take a year off to be with my child. During my time off the economy plummeted and several schools closed in my area. I haven't been able to secure another teaching position and the student loan notices are getting down right depressing; thus began my quest to find methods to pay off my student loans. I will share the information I find with you in this blog. Wish me Luck!