Help With Student Loans Available For Qualifying Teachers

Online Applications Now Available

 

News Release
June 6th, 2019

Contact: Sandy Connolly (651) 259-3902

St. Paul, MN - For the fourth year in a row, teachers working in designated teacher-shortage areas in Minnesota may be eligible for help with their student loan payments. Agricultural Education teachers may also be eligible to apply for additional repayment through the Agricultural Education Loan Repayment Program.

The 2019 online application is now available for the Minnesota Teacher Shortage Loan Repayment Program, signed into law in 2015. Over $1.5 million in awards of up to $1,000 each has been awarded to teachers in the first three years of the program

To be eligible, licensed teachers must:

Have student loan debt

Be employed by a Minnesota school district

Have provided classroom instruction during the 2018-2019 academic year

Meet at least one of the possible four shortage area requirements

Beginning in 2018, one of the four designated shortage areas includes belonging to a racial or ethnic group underrepresented in the Minnesota teacher workforce.

The list of qualifying shortage areas identified by the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) as well as answers to other common questions can be found here: /pdf/tslr_faq.pdf.

Qualifying teachers who apply by July 15, 2019, may be selected for repayment assistance of up to $1,000 per year, up to a total of $5,000. More information about the Minnesota Teacher Shortage Student Loan Repayment Program can be found at: /mPg.cfm?pageID=2191. The application form is online at: /ssl/tslr/app.cfm.

Agricultural Education teachers may also apply for assistance through the Minnesota Agricultural Education Loan Repayment Program. To be eligible, teachers must:

• Have student loan debt
• Be licensed to teach Agricultural Education
• Have completed an Agricultural Education teacher preparation program in Minnesota
• Currently teach at a Minnesota school may be eligible.

The deadline for applying for this program is also July 15, 2019; the application is available here:/ssl/aelr/app.cfm

Please note that neither of these Minnesota programs are the Federal Teacher Loan Forgiveness program. However, a recipient of either Minnesota program may also be eligible for the federal program. You should contact your loan servicer with any questions about federal loan forgiveness programs.

For more information about either the Minnesota Teacher Shortage Loan Repayment Program or the Minnesota Agricultural Education Loan Repayment Program, contact the Minnesota Office of Higher Education: 651-642-0567, 1-800-657-3866, or info.ohe@state.mn.us