Perkins Loan - No Longer My Obligation

I finished graduate school in September 2003 with the same thing most MSWs graduate with - a pile of debt. You see, even with a half-tuition "Urban Scholar" scholarship, Boston University's tuition fees were pretty steep. Therefore, I had to apply for loans. One of the loans that I received was a Perkins Loan, which would be forgiven if I worked in social services for 5 years following graduation. Being as I was attending graduate school for Social Work, this requirement didn't seem like it would present much of a problem. So, every year since 2004, I have faithfully submitted all of the paperwork necessary to substantiate my work in social services and have my loan forgiven. Each year, bit by bit, the loan repayment grew smaller.

You can only imagine how excited I was to receive a letter in the mail this afternoon thanking me for "completing my loan obligation"!! (Okay, so it is pending verification from the lender, but whatever. The loan requirements have been satisfied.) I am so excited, I wanted to share my letter with you all:

Okay, now I know you are super psyched, but don't get too out of control!! See, I still have a few thousand dollars left in Stafford loans. My goal is to hunker down and pay off the rest of my school loans by the end of 2009. So, at that point, I'll be 100% debt free and we'll really party then, okay?