Just cancel student debt already

[heygrey]

Aug 24, 2022 1:52:06 GMT -5 ellipses84 said:

I’m very curious to see what the terms will be. I was lucky to benefit from PSLF forgiveness for the majority of my loans since they were in my mom’s name and she’s an educator. However, I have a few thousand left in my name and it dawned on me recently that they may need to be consolidated to qualify for any forgiveness. They are FFEL loans which didn’t qualify for the payment pause under the cares act and I’ve been paying on them the whole time. I really should have looked into this sooner so I could have benefited from that too, but the were such a drop in the bucket compared to the rest. Fingers crossed for everyone!

My only fed loans are FFEL serviced by Navient so I've been paying on them as well. 

I posted a thread about this in July and the general advice was to consolidate them with Fed Loan so they would qualify for forgiveness if there was any. Life kind of hit the fan for a few weeks and I didn't get it done. I hope they either remember to include FFEL loans (unlikely) or give us a grace period to transfer them over. It's "only" $6500 for me, but if that much could just disappear it would be a huge weight off. I'll still have a bit left in private loans. 

[tacoflavoredkisses]

I selfishly wish this extended to people with private student loans (I am a first generation college student so I had no idea what I was doing and took my loans out through a non profit created by my state’s legislature, but they’re all private). The $10K would cut my remaining SL debt in half.

And really the interest has to be tackled. It’s bonkers.

[msmerymac]

It looks like, as expected, $10k for individuals making up to $125k and households making up to $250k, and then additional relief for Pell Grant recipients, with the same income limits. And an end to the moratorium starting in January.

www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/08/24/bidens-student-loan-forgiveness-plan-some-borrowers-may-get-20000-in-relief-but-payment-pause-will-end/?sh=45147adb6156&utm_medium=browser_notifications&utm_source=pushly&utm_campaign=2344472

[okla]

I’m curious how the Pell grant stuff will work. I had a Pell grant in undergrad, but all my loans are from grad school. Would I still get $20K?

It’s a moot point because I’m just waiting for my PSLF to finish processing and I’ll be fully forgiven as of this month. But I’m always curious about logistics.

[Velar Fricative]

Aug 24, 2022 10:16:38 GMT -5 okla said:

I’m curious how the Pell grant stuff will work. I had a Pell grant in undergrad, but all my loans are from grad school. Would I still get $20K?

It’s a moot point because I’m just waiting for my PSLF to finish processing and I’ll be fully forgiven as of this month. But I’m always curious about logistics.

I got Pell grants too and my eligible loans are from undergrad, but I make above $125k so I don't know if this applies to *all* Pell grant recipients or just the ones who make under $125k. The article I read wasn't clear. 

[gretchenindisguise]

Aug 24, 2022 8:35:56 GMT -5 hermione said:

Aug 23, 2022 17:13:28 GMT -5 Susie said:

I think we're going miss out yet again.  H and I both borrowed six figures for law school in the early 2000s.  H is well under a $125k threshold, and in a PSLF-eligible government role, but due to particulars largely related to my income, he wasn't a good candidate for PSLF.  We didn't foresee the rules changing, so we refinanced his loans to private to save on interest.

Now he might be a better candidate due to changes in eligibility, but he has no federal loans.  Plenty of private ones.

I work in private sector, so I've never been PSLF eligible.  But I do have federal loans!

I have mostly accepted that we'll be paying back every dime ourselves, and I'm usually ok with it, but I do get frustrated with all the changes.  I'm not so much envious as just frustrated at my own inability to foresee the changes to make good decisions for our financial circumstances.  At 15-16 years post-graduation we have around $70k left from the original $260k, and I look forward to it someday just being over.  It's hard to imagine.  It's been a defining feature of my entire adult life.

You clearly know more about your situation than I do but shouldn't he be able to move his loans back to the feds? That's what I was told to do - and once that was complete they evaluated my payments that I made while loans were private.

I think you're mixing up FFEL loans with private loans.

FFEL loans are federal loans that are administered by private banks and insured by the federal government. Some people refer to these as private loans, but they aren't. They can be consolidated into a direct loan and thus make you eligible for forgiveness programs like pslf and also for the covid pause in interest.

For any federal loan that as refinanced (not to be confused with consolidation) into private loans (like Susie's husband) cannot be reconverted back to a federal loan. Susie, it sucks - you made the best decision with the information you had at the time. You guys are making great progress on them.

[suzubell]

Are graduate loans excluded? I saw that one place but not citation or source.

[gretchenindisguise]

Aug 24, 2022 10:39:53 GMT -5 suzubell said:

Are graduate loans excluded? I saw that one place but not citation or source.

There was one report that it may be undergrad only, but nobody really knows anything yet. 

[Velar Fricative]

Apparently there will likely be legal challenges anyway so even if it happens, it may take a while.

[pixy0stix]

Biden will speak at 2:15 ET, and I imagine the written plan will be released shortly after. This is one of those things that I think can't be speculated much on until the written plan is released since there are so many details attached.

[imimahoney]

I also wish it would extend to private loans. Most of my grad school loans were public and will hopefully be forgiven due to PSLF but I do have one private one that won't. I was also a Pell recipient in undergrad but my loans came from grad school.

[pinkdutchtulips]

I’m cautiously optimistic … I had pell grants for undergrad and $25k in loans. I make less than $125k so we shall see how all of this shakes out + will they include grad school too? I’ve got a disastrous year of law school that doubled my SL debt load. $20k lopped off wouldn’t wipe it all out but it would put a dent into it.

[gretchenindisguise]

www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/biden-harris-administration-announces-final-student-loan-pause-extension-through-december-31-and-targeted-debt-cancellation-smooth-transition-repayment?fbclid=IwAR0TIzZR88T_1Z4o9cHwFLpoPazJbX__rwUTVgR2D7l0LCsUEDQXHiifX3g

[karinothing]

Aug 24, 2022 11:19:13 GMT -5 imimahoney said:

I also wish it would extend to private loans. Most of my grad school loans were public and will hopefully be forgiven due to PSLF but I do have one private one that won't. I was also a Pell recipient in undergrad but my loans came from grad school.

Can they legally extend it to private loans? I think they would have to give cash to the private industry to forgive it? Or something. I don't know how that would work. 

[redheadbaker]

I'm happy for those will get some relief.

But DAMN, I wish they could do something to provide those with private loans some relief.

[wanderingback]

Happy for those it will help!

I got excited for a sec because it said will also decrease amount we have to pay under income driven plan, but then it says for undergrad loans only.
So nothing personally helpful in this plan for me as expected but at least it’s some progress for others, yay!

Will keep paying for 25 years till they’re forgiven With interest rate at 7% feels impossible to make a dent since I’m not making neurosurgeon money lol.

[bimbi284]

One thing to note - looks like this $10k/$20k won’t necessarily be automatically implemented to those this applies to. Based on this, there will be an application process launched sometime before Dec 31st.

“The Department will be announcing further details on how borrowers can claim this relief in the weeks ahead. The application will be available no later than when the pause on federal student loan repayments terminates at the end of the year. .Nearly 8 million borrowers may be eligible to receive relief automatically because relevant income data is already available to the Department.”

Definitely annoyed that they’ve added additional hoops here, but not surprised. Hopefully it’s streamlined and won’t require much from people who this applies to.

[pixy0stix]

Aug 24, 2022 12:00:41 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Aug 24, 2022 11:19:13 GMT -5 imimahoney said:

I also wish it would extend to private loans. Most of my grad school loans were public and will hopefully be forgiven due to PSLF but I do have one private one that won't. I was also a Pell recipient in undergrad but my loans came from grad school.

Can they legally extend it to private loans? I think they would have to give cash to the private industry to forgive it? Or something. I don't know how that would work. 

I wonder what the loans were for the shady for profit colleges that were forgiven. Were they federal or private? I mention that because I wonder if the government has forgiven private loans before.

[seeyalater52]

Aug 24, 2022 12:39:01 GMT -5 bimbi284 said:

One thing to note - looks like this $10k/$20k won’t necessarily be automatically implemented to those this applies to. Based on this, there will be an application process launched sometime before Dec 31st.

“The Department will be announcing further details on how borrowers can claim this relief in the weeks ahead. The application will be available no later than when the pause on federal student loan repayments terminates at the end of the year. .Nearly 8 million borrowers may be eligible to receive relief automatically because relevant income data is already available to the Department.”

Definitely annoyed that they’ve added additional hoops here, but not surprised. Hopefully it’s streamlined and won’t require much from people who this applies to.

From the govt website on the announcement it looks like you only need to apply if they don’t have your current income info. Not sure if that is reconciled through the IRS or if you need to be in an IBR for them to have it.
studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement/

[seeyalater52]

Aug 24, 2022 11:22:48 GMT -5 pinkdutchtulips said:

I’m cautiously optimistic … I had pell grants for undergrad and $25k in loans. I make less than $125k so we shall see how all of this shakes out + will they include grad school too? I’ve got a disastrous year of law school that doubled my SL debt load. $20k lopped off wouldn’t wipe it all out but it would put a dent into it.

I’m so so hoping it applies to grad loans. This would be a gamechanger for me and since I got completely fucked on the PSLF changes it would be very very welcome.

Ditto the question of whether being a pell grant recipient matters if the loans are grad school loans.

[seeyalater52]

For what it’s worth, while the plan is light on the details I do think they would have specified if it was limited to undergrad only bc otherwise people would be big mad if they were led to believe this was happening and then weren’t eligible. Enough people are mad about this for various reasons already, they don’t need to fuel the fire.

But they’re not always smart about this stuff so who knows.

[pixy0stix]

Aug 24, 2022 13:00:42 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

For what it’s worth, while the plan is light on the details I do think they would have specified if it was limited to undergrad only bc otherwise people would be big mad if they were led to believe this was happening and then weren’t eligible. Enough people are mad about this for various reasons already, they don’t need to fuel the fire.

But they’re not always smart about this stuff so who knows.

Whew, the comments on the articles (I KNOW I KNOW) are extra salty. 

I feel somewhat salty because we paid off all of dh's loans before any of this started. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for everyone. Truly. Forgiving loans is beneficial for everyone. But also, a small bit of me is asking where mine is?

[Poeticxpassion]

I wish Biden would have done something about interest.

DH has all private loans. Mine are mixed but since I'm disabled, I'm applying for the total and permanent disability program.

[pixy0stix]

I'm listening to the press conference. Biden sounds like a rambling grandpa.

[Poeticxpassion]

Aug 24, 2022 13:50:48 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

I'm listening to the press conference. Biden sounds like a rambling grandpa.

He does. The story about his dad didn't make much sense. Then, he puts up his hands and is like anyway?

[pixy0stix]

Aug 24, 2022 13:55:32 GMT -5 Poeticxpassion said:

Aug 24, 2022 13:50:48 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

I'm listening to the press conference. Biden sounds like a rambling grandpa.

He does. The story about his dad didn't make much sense. Then, he puts up his hands and is like anyway?

Then he went off script again and talked about the "long car lines, and not jalopies - nice cars" of people waiting to receive food? WTF.

[Poeticxpassion]

The way he is talking about pell grants leads me to believe you just had to receive it at sometime during undergrad.

Need to apply for the relief.

Resume student loan payments January 1, 2023.

[Poeticxpassion]

He hasn't specified if it's $125k single and $250k married or not?

Income repayment plan goes from 10% of income to 5% of income,

[wildrice]

Aug 24, 2022 12:39:01 GMT -5 bimbi284 said:

One thing to note - looks like this $10k/$20k won’t necessarily be automatically implemented to those this applies to. Based on this, there will be an application process launched sometime before Dec 31st.

“The Department will be announcing further details on how borrowers can claim this relief in the weeks ahead. The application will be available no later than when the pause on federal student loan repayments terminates at the end of the year. .Nearly 8 million borrowers may be eligible to receive relief automatically because relevant income data is already available to the Department.”

Definitely annoyed that they’ve added additional hoops here, but not surprised. Hopefully it’s streamlined and won’t require much from people who this applies to.

Yeah, especially if interest starts accruing again in January. I imagine most applications won't be processed in time to avoid paying some interest on that 10k. Maybe it will somehow be refunded, idk.

I am glad they are giving more to Pell grant recipients, though with the haphazard tracking that has gone on I have no idea how they will accomplish this. After consolidating and transferring servicers multiple times, are they even going to be able to identify who had Pell grants years ago?

[katespade]

Aug 24, 2022 14:01:38 GMT -5 Poeticxpassion said:

He hasn't specified if it's $125k single and $250k married or not?

Income repayment plan goes from 10% of income to 5% of income,

The written release specifies $125k individual and $250k for households.

studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement/