Chiropractor Student Loan Forgiveness: Complete Guide 2024

• Income-Driven Repayment Plans offer chiropractors who work in private practice the best path toward loan forgiveness

• Some chiropractors have formed their clinic as a nonprofit with the IRS to qualify for the PSLF Program.

• Consolidating older loans can still help chiropractors gain retroactive credit toward forgiveness, even after the one-time adjustment period has ended.

As a chiropractor, you invested in your education to build a rewarding career, but now you may be finding that student loan debt overshadows that investment. Many chiropractors wonder if they’ll ever see the return they imagined.

If you’re here, you’re likely searching for ways to make student loan debt more manageable. This guide is designed specifically for chiropractors—whether you’re running your own clinic, working in a non-profit, balancing debt while growing your practice, or even considering a career change.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• Loan forgiveness options for Chiropractors in Private Practice (including for-profit and non-profit settings)

• Forgiveness programs for Chiropractors Working in Non-Profit Organizations

• Options for Former Chiropractors Considering Career Changes

• Strategies for Chiropractors Balancing Debt with Starting or Running a Practice

You’re not alone if you’ve seen loan forgiveness options for other healthcare professionals and wondered, Why not chiropractors too? This guide cuts through the confusion to clarify which programs apply to you, steps for navigating the application process, and practical strategies for tackling debt while keeping your career on track.

Relief is possible—let’s explore your options together and make the path forward easier.

Related:

• Biden Student Loan Forgiveness

• Student Loan Forgiveness After 20 Years

• Physical Therapist Student Loan Forgiveness: How to Get It

The federal government doesn’t have a specific chiropractic student loan forgiveness program. For years, the American Chiropractic Association has worked to gain access to the National Health Service Corps’ loan repayment program for its members, but those pleas have gone nowhere.

Despite the lack of specific relief options, chiropractors can reduce or eliminate their debt by participating in one of the three programs available to all federal student loan borrowers.

Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) Plans adjust your monthly payments based on your income and family size. But these student loan repayment options come with a hidden benefit: complete loan forgiveness after 20 to 25 years of payments.

These plans include options like Income-Based Repayment (IBR), Pay As You Earn (PAYE), the SAVE Plan (formerly REPAYE), and Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR).

You might want to look into IDR forgiveness if:

• You work in private practice or run your own clinic.

• You’ve had your federal student loans for nearly two decades.

• You’ve been making payments on an IDR plan but aren’t seeing the balance shrink as expected.

By enrolling in an IDR plan, you’ll make payments that reflect your actual financial situation, not just the size of your loan balance.

You Can Still Get Retroactive Forgiveness Credit

You might have seen colleagues celebrating loan forgiveness recently, and it’s no surprise if you’re wondering how they did it—and whether it’s still possible for you.

For many borrowers, the key was the Education Department’s one-time account adjustment, which counted past periods of deferment, forbearance, and non-qualifying payments toward forgiveness. This adjustment brought many people closer to, or even past, the finish line of their loan repayment journey.

But if you’re learning about this now, you might be thinking, “Is it too late for me?” The one-time account adjustment officially ended on September 30, 2024. But there’s still a way to benefit from some of those same provisions through consolidation.

Related: What is Student Loan Consolidation, and How Do I Apply?

Here’s How It Works

Even though the adjustment period has closed, the Education Department has implemented a rule allowing borrowers to receive retroactive credit after consolidating their loans.

When you consolidate, the department gives you a weighted average of your past repayment periods, including time spent in repayment, qualifying deferments, and forbearance.

This means that even if you missed the one-time adjustment, consolidation could still help you gain significant progress toward forgiveness.

Steps to Consider

• Check your loan status: If you have older FFEL loans with commercial servicers like SOAN Servicing, AES, or Navient that have been transferred to MOHELA, consolidation might be your best bet.

• Consolidate into a Direct Loan: This qualifies you for a new, simplified loan that still counts eligible past periods of payment, deferment, and forbearance.

• Gain Weighted Credit: The Education Department’s rule ensures that, through consolidation, your previous efforts are not lost. You’ll receive a weighted average of credits that could bring you closer to forgiveness.

If you’re unsure whether consolidation could benefit you, now is the time to look into it. Even though the one-time adjustment has passed, this new consolidation rule is still a powerful tool to ensure your past payments count, helping you move toward eventual debt relief.

Related: Income-Driven Repayment for Student Loans – How it Works

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) is not the most common path for chiropractors. After all, many leave chiropractic school and jump straight into private practice. Still, PSLF is an option worth considering, especially if you’re willing to think creatively about how your practice is structured.

PSLF offers loan forgiveness after 10 years (120 qualifying payments) for borrowers who work full-time for a non-profit organization or government entity.

Who Can Benefit from PSLF?

Most chiropractic graduates may not initially see themselves in public service roles, but some savvy private practice owners have leveraged this program by restructuring their business into a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. This way, they not only serve their community but also qualify for PSLF, helping them pay off their loans faster.

VA Residency

Another lesser-known option is pursuing a chiropractic residency with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

These positions qualify as public service under PSLF, meaning that as a VA chiropractic resident, your time spent in the program can count toward the 120 payments needed for forgiveness.

After the residency, many chiropractors secure long-term employment within the VA, continuing to work toward loan forgiveness. Related: VA Student Loan Forgiveness for Employees

How It Works: To qualify for PSLF, you’ll need:

• Direct Loans

• Full-time employment with a qualifying non-profit or government entity

• 120 qualifying monthly payments

For a more detailed breakdown of how PSLF works, including eligibility and steps to apply, check out this guide: Public Service Loan Forgiveness – What It Is, How It Works.

There are several other loan forgiveness programs available, though they may not be a perfect fit for chiropractors. Here’s a quick overview of what’s out there:

• Hardship-Based Forgiveness: The Biden administration has proposed new debt relief targeting borrowers facing financial challenges. The plan offers two paths: automatic cancellation for those likely to default based on factors like income and assets or application-based relief for specific hardships such as medical bills, caregiving costs, or natural disaster impacts. Note that this proposal is still pending and may face legal challenges.

• Disability Discharge: If you’re permanently disabled, you may be eligible for a total discharge of your federal student loans. This option applies across professions and does not require you to be in a specific field.

• Borrower Defense to Repayment: Borrowers who attended schools that misled them or engaged in misconduct may qualify for loan discharge through Borrower Defense. Although not specific to chiropractors, this could be an option if you believe your school engaged in fraudulent practices.

• National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Loan Repayment Program: While the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) and the Association of Chiropractic Colleges (ACC) have made progress in advocating for chiropractor inclusion in this program, including a past demonstration program, chiropractors are not currently eligible for NHSC loan repayment. The ACA continues to work toward gaining access to this program for its members.

Related: How to Apply For Student Loan Forgiveness

Chiropractors with federal student loans can achieve forgiveness through options like IDR forgiveness and PSLF.

Additionally, consolidating older loans may allow chiropractors to receive retroactive credit for previously non-qualifying periods, even if they missed the recent one-time adjustment period.

If you’re unsure where to start, book a consultation with our student loan experts. Our team understand the unique challenges chiropractors face.

We’ll cut through the noise, clarify your options, and help you build a plan that works.

This article was originally published in September 2022. It was most recently updated in October 2024.