# Theatre Not-for-Profit Status & Student Loan Forgiveness



## Dovahkiin (Jan 6, 2014)

The document I'm referencing can be found here:

http://studentaid.ed.gov/sites/default/files/public-service-loan-forgiveness.pdf

The gist of it is that if you make 120 payments on your student loans while working at certain kinds of not-for-profit organizations (full time at one job, or a combined 30 hours/week with multiple part time jobs), you can be eligible to have your remaining student loan debts forgiven. They do not have to be consecutive payments, so gaps in employment would not exclude a person from this program.

My question is whether or not a not-for-profit theatre would qualify for this program. 
I know many regional theatres are not-for-profit, but I have no clue what their tax status is. For it to count towards this program it has to be a not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Does anybody out there have any insight into these sorts of things?

I realize that ideally just about all of my debt would be gone by the time I make 120 payments, this is more of a 'what if' scenario. Also certain installment plans may still be running after 120 payments if I'm making as little as I'm told I will for the first 10 years.


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## Footer (Jan 6, 2014)

Interesting. Most theatres are 501c3's, including regionals. In fact every theatre I have ever worked for is a 501c3. If they take donations, they are a 501c3. 

Now, there is a big catch there. All student loans come with a 10 year payoff as default. In order to get them to lower your monthly payment stretching it to longer then 10 years you have to go into all kinds of weird repayment plans... and they give you a fiscal strip search to do it. You have to truly be making nothing for them to lower your payment. So, in reality this is not really going to happen either way. Either you won't be eating or the gov. will be getting its money back. 

Now, I do know of a few programs for teachers that if you work for an underprivileged school they will forgive your debt after a year or two. That is a deal. This one... not really. At most they are going to forgive a few grand by the time you make 10 years of payments.


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## StradivariusBone (Jan 8, 2014)

The same branch of the federal government does the teacher loan forgiveness and it is a bear to muddle through. I think at one point they did offer full forgiveness to teachers in economically-disadvantaged schools, but now the going rate is $5,000 which still ain't bad. If you teach in a special-needs area or math or science you can get up to $17,500 knocked off. I used to teach band and applied for it after I hit 5 years in. They have a list of schools that qualify for economic reasons and if you teach in one for 5 years you have to send that letter with the form filled out and signed to your lender. 

It took mine 3 months to process it, determine that they didn't like the signatures I got, and send it back. I worked in two locations over my 5 qualifying years so I had two forms to return, but my original boss had been fired at the previous school so I had to get an HR rep to sign it- long story. 

All in all it took just over a year from start to finish to get them to pay it. I got one notice that it had been paid, but only about $1,500 worth. When I inquired, I got the run-around and just counted my losses. 2 months later, I noticed my loan balance was reduced by the rest of the $5,000 I was told I was eligible for, but never got a notice. Go figure, but I'm not complaining since that's 5 grand I won't be paying on a degree I don't really use anymore. 

I'm guessing this is the same office, my advice to you is to be super persistent and patient and keep every bit of paperwork you receive, obtain, or create. Depending on your lender it may or may not be different.

Here's the teacher one, it does apply to all areas so drama teachers can do it too!
http://studentaid.ed.gov/sites/default/files/public-service-loan-forgiveness.pdf


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## rsmentele (Jan 23, 2014)

Directly from the studentaid.gov website:

_Qualifying employment is any employment with a federal, state, or local government agency, entity, or organization or a not-for-profit organization that has been designated as tax-exempt by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). *The type or nature of employment with the organization does not matter for PSLF purposes. Additionally, the type of services that these public service organizations provide does not matter for PSLF purposes. *
A private not-for-profit employer that is not a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the IRC may be a qualifying public service organization if it provides certain specified public services. These services include emergency management, military service, public safety, or law enforcement services; public health services; public education or public library services; school library and other school-based services; public interest law services; early childhood education; public service for individuals with disabilities and the elderly. The organization must not be a labor union or a partisan political organization. _


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## chawalang (Jan 31, 2014)

A buddy of mine is doing this right now. He has worked for a childrens theatre in Chicago as a PM and SM for 3 years. As long as he makes on time payements for 10 years while working for a non profit it will be forgiven. He said he can even jump to another gig in that time period as long as its a non profit and it will still count.


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