Does international employment qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness?
Student loan borrowers want to know: "does international employment qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness?"
As with most questions, the answer is a resounding "it depends".
Nothing in the statute or regulations says that a student loan borrower must sit at a desk located in the United States of America, but if you are working abroad and looking for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, you'll need to work for the U.S. Federal Government or a U.S. 501(c)(3).
Here's the deal about which international jobs qualify and which don't:
As with most questions, the answer is a resounding "it depends".
Nothing in the statute or regulations says that a student loan borrower must sit at a desk located in the United States of America, but if you are working abroad and looking for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, you'll need to work for the U.S. Federal Government or a U.S. 501(c)(3).
Here's the deal about which international jobs qualify and which don't:
- Employment with the U.S. Federal Government QUALIFIES, no matter where you do it (for example you could be a Marine in Afghanistan).
- Employment with a Foreign Government does NOT qualify.
- Employment with a U.S. Non-Profit Organization (tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code) QUALIFIES no matter where you are working, (unless the organization is a labor union, or a partisan political organization, or your duties run afoul of the restriction on religious duties).
- Employment with an International, Intergovernmental Organization (for example the United Nations, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Organization of American States, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, etc.) employment does NOT qualify even if you are working within the United States. But note that the U.S. Federal Government employs the United States delegation to international, intergovernmental organizations such as the U.S. mission to the United Nations, therefore, such employment qualifies.
- Employment with a Foreign Non-Profit Organization operating outside the United States does NOT qualify.
- Employment with a Foreign Non-Profit Organization operating within in the United States (or in one of the islands that have a legal relationship with the United States, for example Puerto Rico) MAY QUALIFY, but only if the employer provides one or more of the following public services:
- Emergency management,
- Military service,
- Public safety,
- Law enforcement,
- Public interest law services,
- Early childhood education (including licensed or regulated childcare, Head Start, and state-funded pre-kindergarten),
- Public service for individuals with disabilities and the elderly,
- Public health (including nurses, nurse practitioners, nurses in a clinical setting, and full-time professionals engaged in health care practitioner occupations and health care support occupations),
- Public education,
- Public library services, or
- School library or other school-based services.
- Heather
By Heather | Category: Public Service Loan Forgiveness
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