Study: More South Carolina teachers repaying student loans to leave classrooms

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A new study shows more South Carolina teachers are choosing to pay off their student loans and leave the profession, raising concerns about the state’s ability to keep educators in classrooms.
A subcommittee of the Education Oversight Committee met Monday to review the results of the study, which examined the South Carolina Teacher Loan Program. It’s designed to get more teachers in the field and ease the financial burden, by paying for future teachers to earn their education degrees through forgivable loans. Borrowers can have their loans forgiven if they teach in a critical needs area.
But instead of staying in the classroom, more participants are opting to repay their loans early. That trend has left the program with a $23 million surplus. It’s triple the amount it held just five years ago, when it had just over $8 million extra.
“To hear that educators are willing to pay back a loan in order to be able to walk out of the classroom, that should be an alarm bell,” said Patrick Kelly with the Palmetto State Teachers Association.
Lawmakers say the money needs to be redirected to better support teachers. They approved a budget proviso this year to use part of the surplus to allow current teachers to refinance their loans at a 2% interest rate. That fund is still being set up.
“Anytime a loan balance is increasing because teachers are former teachers and having to repay loans, then obviously it’s another symptom to the problem of recruiting and retaining teachers,” said Rep. Neal Collins, R-Pickens, a member of the Education Oversight Committee.
The study found only about 34% of traditional undergraduate students, known as Type 1 student, who borrowed through the program taught long enough to have their debt forgiven.
Kelly said fixing retention issues requires more than financial incentives, but fixing workplace culture and getting more support and targeted mentorships for teachers just starting out. He says new teachers need more support to face issues, including large class sizes and disruptive student behavior.
“Whether that means providing targeted support through professional development, or supporting the teacher when they’re trying to address a persistently disruptive behavior … we’re going to be more likely to retain that early career teacher,” he said.