Oregon Student Loan Forgiveness Programs and Repayment Options

If you carry federal student loans in Oregon, the paths to loan forgiveness run mostly through federal programs — Public Service Loan Forgiveness, Teacher Loan Forgiveness, and income-driven repayment — with a set of Oregon-funded programs on top for healthcare providers and public-interest attorneys willing to serve in specific roles or communities. The Oregon student loan forgiveness picture changed sharply in 2025 and 2026: the SAVE plan was struck down, two new federal repayment options launched, and the tax treatment of forgiven balances shifted. Here’s what applies, who qualifies, and where to get help.

Federal Forgiveness Programs Open to Oregon Borrowers

Public Service Loan Forgiveness

PSLF forgives the remaining balance on Direct Loans after 120 qualifying monthly payments made while working full-time for a federal, state, local, or tribal government agency or a qualifying nonprofit.¹ Oregon’s public universities, state agencies, and local governments all count. The forgiven amount is tax-free at both the federal and Oregon state level.²

Submit a PSLF form annually and whenever you change employers so your qualifying payments are tracked correctly. The PSLF Help Tool on StudentAid.gov generates the form and allows digital signing, or you can download it and submit by mail, fax, or online upload.³ Oregon State University, for instance, has employees route certification forms through a dedicated employment-verification email.⁴

One caution before you consolidate: the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation warns that any federal student loan consolidation completed after June 30, 2024, wipes out prior progress toward PSLF or income-driven repayment forgiveness.⁵

Teacher Loan Forgiveness

Oregon teachers who work full-time for five consecutive years at a qualifying low-income school can have up to $17,500 in federal loans forgiven. Eligibility runs off the federal Teacher Cancellation Low Income (TCLI) Directory: a school qualifies when at least 30.02% of its enrollment consists of children eligible for Title I services. The Oregon Department of Education submits Oregon school data to the U.S. Department of Education each summer, and you can search the directory on StudentAid.gov to confirm your school.⁶ Like PSLF, Teacher Loan Forgiveness is exempt from federal income tax.²

Income-Driven Repayment Forgiveness

Federal income-driven plans forgive whatever balance remains after a set number of years of qualifying payments. Income-Based Repayment stays available for loans made before July 1, 2026, with forgiveness after 20 years (loans originated after July 1, 2014) or 25 years (older loans). Pay As You Earn and Income-Contingent Repayment are being phased out by July 1, 2028.⁷

The tax treatment matters. Debt forgiven under IDR plans after December 31, 2025, is generally taxable federal income; the American Rescue Plan Act’s temporary exclusion expired January 1, 2026.² Oregon conforms with the federal tax code on this, so IDR forgiveness is also subject to Oregon state income tax.⁵ Borrowers who were insolvent when their debt was forgiven may be able to exclude some or all of the amount by filing IRS Form 982.

What Happened to SAVE and What Replaced It

A federal court vacated the SAVE plan rules on March 10, 2026, following a December 2025 settlement in litigation brought by Missouri and several other states. Roughly 7 million enrolled borrowers, including an estimated 104,700 Oregonians, must move to a different plan.⁸⁹ Loan servicers began notifying affected borrowers around July 1, 2026, giving them 90 days to choose a new plan. If you don’t act within that window, you’ll be placed automatically into the Standard Repayment Plan or the new Tiered Standard Plan.¹⁰

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed July 4, 2025, created two new repayment options that launched July 1, 2026:

The Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) is income-driven, with payments tiered by adjusted gross income. Payments start at a $10 monthly minimum for borrowers earning $10,000 or less and rise to 10% of AGI for those earning over $100,000, reduced by $50 per dependent. If your payment doesn’t reduce principal by at least $50, the Department of Education contributes the difference, and unpaid interest is waived rather than capitalized. Remaining balances are forgiven after 30 years. Parent PLUS loans are not eligible for RAP. RAP payments count toward PSLF when the other PSLF requirements are met.¹¹¹²¹³
The Tiered Standard Plan is a fixed-payment plan with a term set by your total balance: 10 years up to $25,000; 15 years for $25,000 to $50,000; 20 years for $50,000 to $100,000; and 25 years above $100,000.¹¹

If you take out new federal loans on or after July 1, 2026, your options are limited to RAP or the Tiered Standard Plan. If all your loans predate that date, you can stay in existing Standard, IBR, Graduated, or Extended plans, or opt into RAP.¹⁴

Oregon Programs for Healthcare Providers

Oregon doesn’t run a general-purpose forgiveness program for all borrowers. It does fund several programs for providers who commit to serving in underserved areas.

Oregon Health Care Provider Loan Repayment Program

Administered by the Oregon Office of Rural Health at OHSU under Oregon Administrative Rule 409-036, this program provides tax-free loan repayment to providers at approved primary care sites serving underserved populations. Eligible professions include physicians, nurse practitioners, physician associates, dentists, dental hygienists, pharmacists, clinical social workers, counselors, psychologists, and several other behavioral health roles. The minimum service commitment is three years. Full-time participants can receive up to 70% of their qualifying loan balance each year, capped at $50,000 annually; part-time participants can receive up to 35%, capped at $25,000 annually.¹⁵ Revised administrative rules effective July 1, 2026, update the incentive descriptions and expand the list of eligible provider types.¹⁶

Oregon Partnership State Loan Repayment Program (SLRP)

The SLRP is federally funded through the Health Resources and Services Administration and administered by the Oregon Office of Rural Health for primary care providers working in Health Professional Shortage Areas. Applications were closed between September 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026, during a funding gap, and reopened July 1, 2026.¹⁷ Under the current cycle, full-time physical health providers can receive up to $75,000 over an initial two-year commitment; dental and behavioral health providers can receive up to $50,000. Half-time awards are proportionally reduced, and one-year continuation awards are available after the initial commitment with no federal lifetime cap.¹⁸

Oregon Behavioral Health Loan Repayment Program

Created by House Bill 4071 in 2022 and administered by the Oregon Health Authority, this program offered up to $50,000 per year for full-time behavioral health workers and $25,000 per year for part-time, in exchange for a two-year service commitment, with priority for providers serving communities of color, tribal members, and rural residents. As of mid-2026, OHA is not accepting applications and has no future cycles planned; continuation depends on legislative funding.¹⁹

Primary Care Loan Forgiveness

Also run by the Oregon Office of Rural Health, this program supports students enrolled in approved rural training tracks or the Oregon AHEC Scholars Program. It covers one or more years of tuition and fees, capped at the highest resident tuition rate at publicly funded Oregon health programs. Recipients owe one year of full-time clinical service at a rural site for each year of funding received. The 2027 application cycle opens in October 2026.²⁰

Scholars for a Healthy Oregon Initiative (SHOI)

Established by the Oregon Legislature in 2013, SHOI covers full tuition and mandatory fees for a limited number of OHSU students in medical, dental, physician assistant, and select nursing programs. Recipients must be Oregon residents and commit to practicing full-time at an approved rural or underserved Oregon site for one year longer than the number of years they received funding.²¹ Participants who don’t complete the service obligation must repay the full amount plus a 25% penalty.²²

Oregon State Bar Loan Repayment Assistance for Attorneys

The Oregon State Bar runs a loan repayment assistance program for attorneys working in public defense, as deputy district attorneys, or at civil legal aid organizations providing direct representation to low-income clients. Participants can receive up to $7,500 per year for a maximum of three consecutive years. About $50,000 in new funds is typically available annually, and the program selects roughly 10 to 20 new participants each cycle.²³ To qualify, an attorney’s salary cannot exceed $100,000 at the time of initial application, and the attorney must carry at least $35,000 in educational debt. Applications are due April 15 each year.²⁴

Servicer Problems, Collections, and Where to Get Help

Oregon licenses student loan servicers through the Division of Financial Regulation and operates an Office of the Student Loan Ombuds under Senate Bill 485 (2021). Servicers must credit payments within one business day and are barred from deceptive practices such as misrepresenting loan terms or recklessly misapplying payments. Civil penalties reach $5,000 per violation, with continuous violations capped at $20,000.²⁵ Before sending payments, you can verify that your servicer is licensed in Oregon at nmlsconsumeraccess.org.²⁶

Federal loan collections resumed on May 5, 2025, after a five-year pandemic-era pause. Borrowers whose loans are more than nine months past due, or who were in default before the pause, may face wage garnishment and tax refund offsets.⁵ The Oregon ombuds office has described federal collections as a national matter the state office cannot block; it works to bridge gaps caused by federal service failures rather than override federal collection authority.²⁶

Key Oregon contacts:

Oregon Student Loan Ombuds (Lane Thompson): 888-877-4894 or DFR.bankingproducthelp@dcbs.oregon.gov.⁵
Oregon Office of Rural Health Workforce Services at OHSU, for SLRP, Health Care Provider Loan Repayment, Primary Care Loan Forgiveness, and SHOI: ruralworkforce@ohsu.edu or 503-494-4450.²⁷
Oregon State Bar LRAP: lrap@osbar.org or 503-431-6385.²⁴
Federal information: StudentAid.gov for program details, the National Consumer Law Center’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance site for independent guidance, and OregonStudentAid.gov for general financial aid.⁵

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