Interest rates on federal student loans are fixed, but they change on new loans disbursed on or after July 1 of any given year. This simply means, for example, that if you borrow four direct unsubsidized loans for each year of dental school, you will graduate with four loans, each of which has a different, but fixed, interest rate.

The interest rates on new federal loans disbursed on or after July 1, 2022, were just announced! 

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No doubt you’ve heard about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program where the federal government forgives your student loan debt after you work in the nonprofit sector for 10 years. One of the questions we often get is whether payments made during gap years prior to dental school can help a borrower qualify for PSLF. 

Read on as Paul Garrard, national student loan expert and ADEA Senior Advisor for Student Financial Services, breaks down the ins and out of PSLF.

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“Students enrolled in any degree program usually have many questions about financial aid, especially student loans,” says Paul Garrard, national student loan expert and ADEA Senior Advisor for Student Financial Services. “Over the years, I’ve received questions pertaining to whether there could be or will be any changes to the degree programs and if those changes will impact their finances—either during school or later when they are repaying any student loan amounts they may have borrowed.” 

Keep reading to see what tips Garrard has for those considering how to pay for their dental hygiene education.

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Did you know the interest rate on federal direct loans is now 0%? That’s right, and that’s only one of several ways the U.S. government is helping student loan borrowers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Paul Garrard, national student loan expert and ADEA Senior Advisor for Student Financial Services, provides updates and a quick breakdown of what options are currently available for student borrowers.

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This dynamic and highly interactive student loan webinar recording, How Student Loans Work, features one of the nation’s leading experts on student loans and educational debt management for health sciences students―including dental students and graduates. ... See More

What is a gap year? A “gap year” is a span of time between the end of undergraduate education and the beginning of dental school. It can be longer than a year, depending on your circumstances.

When taking a gap year, there are important steps every student should consider or take if they anticipate needing financial aid for dental school, dental hygiene programs or any other graduate degree program following their gap year. 

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As you consider ways to pay for dental school, there are some important questions you should ask that will help ensure you don’t miss anything in terms of getting access to the best financial aid possible. This includes knowing how to borrow responsibly if you have to take out student loans and having access to resources to help prepare you for repaying your loans responsibly after you graduate.

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You may have heard that some borrowers who have careers in the nonprofit sector after graduation can retire their student loan debt through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program after meeting certain eligibility requirements. This program is designed to encourage borrowers of any discipline and degree program (including dentistry) to enter and remain in the nonprofit sector for at least 10 years, with the promise to forgive any remaining federal student loan debt at that time completely tax-free—meaning the forgiveness amount is not considered taxable income. PSLF may be of great interest to health professions students interested in the nonprofit sector, such as the government and nonprofit community-based health clinics. It also applies to dental school graduates who enter academic dentistry after they graduate. ... See More

One of the main questions students enrolled in any degree program have about financial aid, especially student loans, is whether there will be any changes to the programs and if those will impact them—either during school or later when they ... See More

Paul Garrard, M.B.A., gives an overview of the difference between federal and private loans, and explains recent updates to federal loans. ... See More