Meh, I think getting pg before her DH had a job was the biggest mistake. Otherwise not that different from how we started out...I had over $75k in SL for a low paying profession, got pg soon after marriage & DH had to cram to pass the exams before I popped out the babe (while working f/t). Mainly so he'd make more than $40k/yr...he finished his last exam 2wks before I gave birth. It's not the Bar but the ARE isn't a walk in the park either. I stretched out my SL to 30yrs & I started college 20yrs ago & still owe over $37K. Had I to do over I would have done a few things different but we survived. They'll figure something out. It was pretty irresponsible to not figure out finances before making a big step like having a kid...but not the end of the world by any means. There are options for them at least.
True, but at her level of debt wouldn't it make more sense to extend the payments past 10 years so she can afford food/rent each month? I don't fully understand the intricacies of the program, so I could be completely wrong.
Plus it sounds as though she has at least some private loans, which don't qualify.
Can you get loan forgiveness if your HHI is over a certain amount? Or is there something specific for social workers?
I know a handful of public interest lawyers who got totally screwed on loan forgiveness because they were married and their HHI was over a certain threshold. I don't remember the exact number, but it wasn't a very high threshold for two FT working adults- maybe $60K?
You have to file separately from your spouse and be on the income-based repayment plan, so it depends on the amount of your loans and how much you make individually. You pay on the IBR schedule for 10 years, and whatever is left at the end is what is forgiven. If the amount that is determined that you can afford based on the income-based repayment plan is enough to pay off the loans in full, then nothing is forgiven, because nothing is left. It's not really getting screwed if you make enough money to pay your loans. The program is designed to encourage workers to take low-paying public service jobs even if they have high loan amounts. It's not really for people who make average to decent salaries and don't have huge sums of loans.