“I’m going to cry a little bit,” the Rev. Blair Moorhead wrote on her Facebook page the day she learned that more than $44,000 in her graduate school loans had been forgiven. “If you’ve wondered if you are worth it, you are. Apply. Ask for and receive help in applying,” she said in reference to the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and the coaching service offered by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) through a partnership with PeopleJoy to help guide the process.
Laura Bryan, coordinator of the Office of Financial Aid for Service, hopes anyone working full-time (more than 30 hours) for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) with education debt will come to the webinars her team is hosting this fall and start the process to have their debt forgiven. “There is help for nonprofit employees through income-driven repayment plans, consolidation and Public Service Loan Forgiveness,” Bryan said.
Victoria Robinson has been shaped by her own experiences and by a willingness to attune to the perspectives of others. Discerning a call to ministry with the support of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has been a part of Robinson’s experience.
Emily Dawn Sutphin studied religion from a sociological perspective in college. After graduation, she chose to apply to seminary to have “the opportunity to examine my faith from a variety of angles.”
Emily Dawn Sutphin studied religion from a sociological perspective in college. After graduation, she chose to apply to seminary to have “the opportunity to examine my faith from a variety of angles.”
“Need-based aid is one of the many ways that the Presbyterian Mission Agency responds to its Matthew 25 priorities to end structural racism and poverty.” This statement appears at the end of the full-page announcement in Presbyterians Today about scholarships for full-time undergraduate and seminary students belonging to Presbyterian churches.
When Melonee Tubb graduated from Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky with a Master of Divinity degree, she was saddled with $85,000 in student loans.
The message from Monday’s Student Loan Debt Webinar describing recent changes in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program (PSLF) is overwhelmingly in favor of the borrower — and potentially beneficial to ministers and other church leaders.
