All I Want For Christmas is an Affordable Education and an Easy Bake Oven
Dear Santa, Thank you for dedicating yourself to making futures bright! I hope I can contribute to your mission by providing this wish list. Santa please: Restore consumer protections and fair bankruptcy rights for private student loan borrowers Prevent the taxation of loan balances forgiven through Income-Based Repayment, and Improve ease of access to Income-Based Repayment and Public Service Loan Forgiveness Also, please consider organizing other mythical heroes in a campaign to reduce the cost of education. It strikes me that…
Will the President’s Student Loan Initiatives Help You?
On October 25, 2011, the Obama administration announced executive orders designed to assist struggling student loan borrowers in spite of Congressional inaction. The President announced two new student loan initiatives: Pay As You Earn, making the Income-Based Repayment plan more generous for certain borrowers by fast-tracking improvements to the way payments are calculated and reducing the time it takes to earn forgiveness, and “Special” Consolidation Loans providing a modest interest rate reduction for student loan borrowers who have…
What Student Loan Borrowers Need to Know about Obama’s Student Loan Initiatives
Don't miss the updated and expanded version of this post: Will the President's Student Loan Initiatives Help You? If you can’t work with them, work around them. Yesterday President Obama’s administration announced student debt relief initiatives that don’t depend upon getting Congress moving. Unfortunately, there is only so much executive action can accomplish, and the initiatives are limited in scope. The changes will reduce interest rates for some graduates, and will have a significant impact…
Public Service Loan Forgiveness is Secure(ish)
The folks in Washington, DC are looking to save money wherever they can. I've been hearing from a lot of worried borrowers wondering, "Can I count on Public Service Loan Forgiveness to last?" My answer? Um, maybe. Probably. I think so. Public Service Loan Forgiveness doesn't exactly cost money Because only Federal Direct Loans are eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, the United States Department of Treasury never writes a check to anyone. Instead, when a borrower qualifies, the…
5 Traps for Unwary Student Loan Borrowers
On the one hand, Public Service Loan Forgiveness is easy. Just 1) make the right kind of payment, 2) on the right kind of loan, 3) while you are in the right kind of job. 4) Repeat 120 times, and 5) prove it. But the devil is in the details. Payments made under many “standard” repayment plans don’t count towards forgiveness. Payments that are more than 15 days late don’t count toward forgiveness. Many borrowers must consolidate or reconsolidate into Federal Direct Loans in order to have the “right kind of loan.”…
