Everyday across America, hundreds of thousands of law enforcement officers do their best to keep our country safe. And they oftentimes have to put themselves in harms way to do their jobs. Unpredictable hours, stressful shifts, and life endangering conditions are oftentimes par for the course.
The average police officer earns about $55,600 per year in the United States. Of course, this is going to vary greatly by department, location, and seniority. Of course, many officers also receive benefit packages and oftentimes qualify for pensions as well.
Some Americans are unaware, but many law enforcement personnel have college degrees and are forced to balance the weight of their outstanding student loan balances with the never ending stress of their jobs.
Luckily, there are loan assistance programs out there to help, both on a federal level, as well as on a state level.
What types of law enforcement qualify for loan assistance?
It depends on the program. Generally though, any law enforcement role for the government or a nonprofit is likely to qualify for at least one of the strategies that we will cover below.
Here is a quick list to get started:
City/state police departments
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
National Security Agency (NSA)
Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
College police (if the college or university is not for profit)
This is unlikely to be an all-encompassing list, as other organizations will qualify, such as the United States Marshal's Service and Secret Service.
Student loan forgiveness for law enforcement
As you consider your student loan situation, you'll want to keep in mind your student loan repayment options. As far as your repayment goes your most likely options are:
Perkins Loan Cancellation
State student loan forgiveness programs
Let's take these one at a time.
1. Public Service Loan Forgiveness
PSLF is likely to be the most lucrative loan assistance program for those that qualify. To gauge prospective eligibility, you'll only need to keep one thing in mind to start. Is your employer:
A registered 501c(3) nonprofit or
A local, state, or federal government
If the answer to either of these questions is "yes," then it is likely that PSLF may be an option for you. In addition to the education requirement, you'll also need to:
Have qualifying student debt that is part of the Federal Direct Loan Program
Enroll in a PSLF qualifying repayment plan
Make 120 qualifying monthly payments after October 1, 2007
Applying for PSLF
Applying for PSLF is an easy task to accomplish. Your first step is to make sure that you're on a PSLF qualifying repayment plan. The easiest way to complete this is to select the income-driven repayment plan that is best for you.
You have four options depending on what type of federal loans you have, and each has slightly different monthly payment calculations and terms. In the event that you qualify for more than one IDR plan, you should select the one that is most financially advantageous for you.
Use the below links to find more information about each plan type:
Income Contingent Repayment
We've also built a student loan calculator to estimate your payments and forgiveness through the PSLF program. Get yours below!
2. Income-driven repayment for law enforcement
Police and other law enforcement officers can save a lot of money by getting on an income-driven repayment plan.
As you may know, there are currently four applicable programs, and each carries repayment terms of between 20-25 years. After your repayment term is complete, your remaining balance will be forgiven, though the forgiveness may be taxable in the future.
The programs work by taking into account your income and family size to recalculate (lower) monthly payments that work better for you.
Imagine a married police officer that earns $60,000 annually, is married (spouse doesn't work), and has two children. Let's say that this police officer has $35,000 in student loan debt, with an interest rate of 5.2%, and monthly payment of $375 for ten years.
By choosing one of the four available IDR plans - IBR, ICR, PAYE, or REPAYE - you'll likely be able to lower your monthly payments, perhaps substantially.
Under PAYE, for instance, this officer's monthly payments would decrease to a projected $193 per month in year one.
Keep in mind that joining an income-driven repayment plan may require you to consolidate your loans first.
3. Perkins Loan Cancellation
Police, and other professionals with Perkins Loans, may qualify for Perkins Loan Cancellation. Federal Perkins Loans, which are no longer even offered by the federal government, have a specific program in place to help federal borrowers.
If you're a police officer or work in a public service law enforcement role, you may qualify.
All of your Perkins Loans could be forgiven over a period of five years through the following guidelines:
15% after the first year
15% after the second year
20% after the third year
20% after the fourth year
30% after the fifth year
The catch is that you need to have outstanding Perkins Loans to receive any benefits from the program.
State-sponsored student loan forgiveness
As of this time, 48 out of the 50 United States offer unique state based student loan forgiveness guides, including some exclusively for members of law enforcement.
Earlier this year, a bipartisan group of Massachusetts lawmakers proposed ways in which the state could take on student loan payments for law enforcement personnel.
It never hurts to see what options you may have in the state where you reside.
Other student loan strategies for law enforcement
If, for whatever reason, none of these programs are for you, you can still utilize one of the more widely available student loan strategies.
Private refinancing
Federal consolidation
1. Refinancing your federal and private loans
Refinancing is always an option if you're looking for lower monthly student loan payments. You may need to be willing to work with a new lender in order to be eligible, but some maneuvering now could save you big time on your future payments and interest expense.
We typically recommend that you start by checking out your rates with Splash Financial and LendKey, since they are marketplaces that can compare rates from multiple participating lenders at one time. The best part is that the rate checks won't impact your credit score and will only take 2-3 minutes of your time!
2. Federal consolidation
Depending on your end objectives, consolidation also may make sense for you if you're looking to retain the federal rights and protections that are lost once you transition to a private lender.
And depending on what type of federal loans you have, it may be a necessary step in order to gain eligibility for income-driven repayment, and consequently, PSLF.
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