<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I'm interested in becoming a school teacher (probably secondary). I've done lots of research and I feel like there are TONS of loan forgiveness programs available if you teach in a shortage discipline, or a low-income area. But then, I see people commenting about not making enough to pay loans.</p>
<p>Are people taking advantage of these programs? If they aren't - why not? is it because they don't want to teach in these areas, or they don't want to teach in low-income/urban districts?</p>
<p>It just seems like such a great opportunity, if you have mobility to move if necessary. Am I missing something?</p>
<p>Not to drag up old threads. Technically this is still on page 1 of education threads. You need to commit to 5 years in those districts typically. In contrast, Teach for America makes you commit for 2 and even then not all TFA teachers can spend 2 years in that environment. A lot goes into the school you work at - especially your team of teachers, principal/administration/leadership, etc. If you are unhappy and are committed for 5 years for that, that is longer than college. It is just not a wise choice. Also, the loan forgiveness is not total forgiveness. It is usually just a couple of thousand of dollars, which is not worth it unless you are aiming for that kind of school in the first place. Here is some info on the loan forgiveness program: <a href=“http://www.edfund.org/Accessibility/A_i-40.doc[/url]”>http://www.edfund.org/Accessibility/A_i-40.doc</a> even $17k over 5 years for math is just $3.4k per year. I get $2.5k per year just for having a master’s. If the government really considered this a viable program, they would put their money where their mouth is.</p>