For employment as a full-time teacher in a low-income school or low-income educational service agency, you may be eligible for partial cancellation of your Federal Perkins Loan, if you meet certain criteria.
Criteria for the Low-Income Designation
Low-income communities are defined as communities in which there is a high concentration of children eligible to be counted under Title 1 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended.
A school serving such a community receives the low-income designation, on a yearly basis. However, not all schools serving low-income communities are selected. The final determination is made by the United States Secretary of Education, who consults with each state’s Department of Education.
An official directory of designated low-income schools is published annually by the Secretary of Education. If you feel that you qualify for cancellation because you teach at a school with students from low income families, you may verify that your school is in the Federal Register of Low Income Schools at the government’s Teacher Cancellation site.
NOTE: All elementary and secondary schools operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) qualify as schools serving low-income students. Elementary and secondary schools operated on reservations by Indian tribal groups under contract with the BIA also qualify.
Cancellation if School is Removed from List
If a borrower is teaching at a school that is on the list one year but not in subsequent years, the borrower may continue to teach in that school and remain eligible to receive a cancellation for service in that school.