A Federal Perkins Loan, or Perkins Loan, was a need-based

student loan A student loan is a type of loan designed to help students pay for post-secondary education and the associated fees, such as tuition, books and supplies, and living expenses. It may differ from other types of loans in the fact that the interest r ...

part of the

Federal Direct Student Loan Program The William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program (also called FDLP, FDSLP, and Direct Loan Program) provides "low-interest loans for students and parents to help pay for the cost of a student's education after high school. The lender is the U.S ...

, offered by the U.S. Department of Education to assist

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...

students in funding their

post-secondary education Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including univers ...

. The program was named after

Carl D. Perkins Carl Dewey Perkins (October 15, 1912 – August 3, 1984), a Democrat, was an American politician and member of the United States House of Representatives from the state of Kentucky serving from 1949 until his death from a heart attack in Lexi ...

, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

. Perkins Loans carried a fixed

interest rate An interest rate is the amount of interest due per period, as a proportion of the amount lent, deposited, or borrowed (called the principal sum). The total interest on an amount lent or borrowed depends on the principal sum, the interest rate, t ...

of 5% for the duration of the ten-year repayment period. The Perkins Loan Program had a nine-month grace period, so that borrowers began repayment in the tenth month upon graduating, falling below half-time status, or withdrawing from their college or university. Since the Perkins Loan was

subsidized A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...

by the government, interest did not begin to accrue until the borrower began to repay the loan. In the 2009–2010 academic year, the loan limits for undergraduates were $5,500 per year with a lifetime maximum loan of $27,500. For graduate students, the limit was $8,000 per year with a lifetime limit of $60,000 (including undergraduate loans). Perkins Loans were eligible for

Federal Loan Cancellation The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program is a United States government program that was created under the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 (CCRAA) to provide indebted professionals a way out of their federal student loan debt ...

for individuals choosing to work in a number of different public service occupations including early childhood education, elementary and secondary school teaching, speech therapy, nursing, law enforcement, librarian, public defense attorney, fire fighting and certain active duty military postings. Depending on the field of employment, further restrictions on the setting of employment may apply. For example, forgiveness for teachers may be restricted to designated low-income schools or specific teacher shortage areas such as math, science, and bilingual education and forgiveness for nurses requires employment at a non-profit medical facility. A percentage of the loan was cancelled for each year spent teaching full-time (as long as the loan remains in good standing). This cancellation also applies to Peace Corps Volunteers. Cancellation typically occurs on a graduating scale: 15% for year 1, 15% for year 2, 20% for year 3, 20% for year 4, 30% for year 5. These percentages were based on the original debt amount. Thus after 3 years of service, one would have 50% of their original debt cancelled. On September 30, 2017, the Federal Perkins Loan program failed to renew in Congress, thus effectively ending the loan program.

External links

U.S. Dept. of Education: Federal Perkins Loans

U.S. Dept. of Education: Federal Perkins Loan Teacher Cancellation

References

{{Student loans Student loans in the United States

See also

External links

References