When you take out a student loan you commit to repaying it. Student loans are rarely cleared in a bankruptcy, and you must be permanently disabled to qualify for them to be discharged. Many students feel overwhelmed by their student loans when they graduate, and paying a large payment for several years can make it difficult to get ahead financially. You may want to try these seven steps to help you pay off your student loans or one of these student loan forgiveness programs.

1.  Teacher Forgiveness Program

The federal government offers forgiveness program that will allow teachers who teach for five years to have their student loans completely forgiven. Teachers must work in identified low income or high-risk schools to qualify for the program and can have up to $17,500 forgiven at the end of the five years. Teachers will need to continue to make payment while they are teaching for the five years. The teachers must be under the direct loan program to qualify. Any service for Americorps or TeachAmerica cannot be used to count towards the five years of the program.

2.  Americorps

Americorps offers a program where you can work for a year in a specific service organization to earn money to put towards your student loan. In 2011 the amount of the award is $5500. While working in Americorps you will receive health coverage and be able to defer payment on your student loan. Depending on your assignment you may receive a small stipend to help with living costs. You can also take a year off of school to complete this program and use the money to apply to your next semester of college.

3.  Teach America

Teach America offers an award of $10,700 to apply towards your student loans. Additionally, while you are teaching you will qualify to put your student loans on forbearance, and Teach America will pay your interest payments for you. The loans need to be federal loans to qualify for the repayment benefits. You must teach for a total of two years to qualify for the entire benefit. You will receive the normal teaching salary of the district you are teaching in. Generally you will be teaching in a high need area in high-risk schools. If you worked for Americorps you may not qualify for the TeachAmerica grant depending on your prior service.

4.  Public Service Workers

Public service workers can qualify for loan forgiveness after ten years of employment for a state or federal agency. To qualify for this program you must have a loan through the direct loan program. It may be worth transferring your loan to a direct consolidation loan to qualify for the program, since it will help you pay off your loan more quickly if you have already taken out a consolidation loan.

5.  Income Based Loan Forgiveness

If you qualify for income based repayment, which means you pay a reduced monthly payment because of your income. If you continue to qualify for this program and make on time monthly payments for twenty-five years you can qualify to have the remaining balance of your loan forgiven. To qualify for this program you must have a direct consolidation loan from the federal government. If your student loans are completely overwhelming this may be the best option available to you. You may also qualify for the Pay as You Earn program which is similar. 

6.  Federal Direct Loan Consolidation

Many loan forgiveness programs require you to have a Federal Direct Loan through the federal government. The process to consolidate is the same as other student loan consolidation loans. If you borrowed money after 2010, then you are automatically receiving a Direct Federal loan. If you borrowed before this period you may have your Stafford loans through a private lender, and you will need to switch to the direct loan to qualify for the forgiveness program. If you feel that you will not be able to pay off your loan in the time it would take you to qualify for loan forgiveness, then it will be worth it to transfer to a direct consolidation loan.

7.  Private Student Loan Forgiveness

Most student loan forgiveness programs are for federal student loans only. You will need to pay off your private student loans on your own. You may need to take on a second job if you are having a difficult time making your private student payments. You can contact your lender to see if they offer programs that allow you to adjust your payment based on your income or if you can refinance the loan so you can afford the monthly payments. Private student loans are rarely forgiven in bankruptcy as well, and so you must work to pay them off as quickly as possible.