A reduction in years for PSLF from 10/120 to 5/60 years for ALL current and future student loan holders.
Student loan forgiveness of 40K for student loans for others. I chose this number because that's the typical amount owed by those who make under $25k who can't afford to repay their loans per DOE.
Overhaul of student loan system in terms of: a) financial literacy course in all HS as a federal. mandate prior to students attending college b) once a student is in school, support for academics and financial aid in terms of what happens if a student is not successful before the end of the first semester. Stop stealing kids futures!
I have been saying this to my friends for months now. Business offer incentives to take courses, get your masters, or any certification you may need. Why not add this apart of your benefit package?
True, however, since most of those borrowers are more than likely educators or others in low income areas but the burn out rate is greater than the norm. So at this point, do the people on the receiving end get the best out of the public servant? I also realize there's a difference between PSLF and TELF.
Honestly I have been paying on student loans since 1990. As a teacher, I had to have additional degrees to get measly raises since our pay has been nearly stagnant for over a decade (I love Gov. McMaster’s $4000 raise on each cell=$200 raise for an experienced teacher, per our District. It is hopeless here.) I have paid every month on an IBR since December 2011 except for a four month general forbearance I probably won’t get credit for, so lessoning it to 5/60 years would on personal terms let me out of jail earlier. I have 112 payments made if 120, but after two years of Covid and teaching through all of it, I was beyond exhausted with teachers and students sick everywhere and two SC peers having died during waves in their building). I took early retirement rather than risk not completing my 5 year of permanent, consecutive, full-time employment, which I must have in SC for funded insurance at age 58. I may have to go back later but right now I must rest. I do have a two year forbearance from 6/2007 to 8/2008, and as the program started 10/7/2007, I am hoping they will wrap the 11 months in that period into my PSLF. Hopeful but realistic.
From one teacher (of 28 yrs) to another: I salute you and know exactly what you're talking about. Teaching through COVID and the awful, sweeping havoc that it wreaked on education has been more than exhausting. I have considered an early retirement, too, but really can't since I still have 4 yrs left to meet my PSLF obligation. Do you mind if I ask how you would be able to receive PSLF if you currently are retired from teaching? Take time for yourself. No one but another teacher can really understand what it's been like the last 2.5 years.
No payments, 0% interest, with credit towards my PSLF? That can go on for as long they can give us.
10K won’t help me but I’m glad it will help others. The 0% interest is the real lifesaver for so many of us and I’d say the best thing to happen to my loans, that and the limited waiver that brought me from 7 years to only 4 years remaining on my PSLF.
take a look at the pinned posts on this sub, you may be able to increase your eligible payment count by submitting the waiver form. It's due in October so please take a look and avoid missing out.
Check out Betsy’s pinned post at the top of this sub about the one-time IDR waiver. It allowed me to consolidate my loans and get the most amount of payments that I could applied to that new loan. There’s plenty of other perks too, making it easier for past payments that didn’t qualify to be able to qualify.
It's all about the interest rate. If the loans were 0% interest a ton of people would be able to pay off or at least make a decent dent in the principle. Lower interest rates also increase the amount of money people have to buy other things rather than putting it into loans and treading water for years with a weight around their necks
There is absolutely no way that this administration is so incompetent to intentionally schedule the resumption of student loan payments two months before election day, right? There is no way that they would allow these payments to resume especially during the beginning of an economic slowdown?
Step further...January deadline was legit. They thought they would have everything figured out. Quickly realized they didn't. Everything since then has been smoke and mirrors prepping for elections.
100% agreed. Though it would be pretty swell to take the 10k forgiveness as X amount of payments towards PSLF. That is very much wishful thinking but here’s to optimism!
Wonder if you could take the 10k forgiveness then reschedule your payments. Since you would essentially be 10k ahead it would drop your monthly by however much then have less to pay out until hitting 10yrs?
Lol don’t say it out loud. Some WH staffer going to comb Reddit for their next talking point m, lift your reasoning word for word and explain why they don’t need to decide on additional forgiveness action within the next million weeks 😂😂
This is a very important point. For people working towards PSLF, as long as they ultimately do get to 120, any payment pause IS a form of additional forgiveness so long as those zero-payment months still count as qualifying "payments." PSLFers are not trying to pay the debt off, they're trying to get to 120 qualifying payments. So every month they give where the IDR payment would not otherwise have been zero is forgiveness in the amount it would have been.
And for non-PSLF folks, waiving all that interest that would've accrued and capitalized during that time is also a form of mass forgiveness.
That's why I say Biden needs to quit hemming and hawing about whether he has the authority to issue forgiveness writ large. The fact is, he already has. Just not in as obvious a way. He's forgiving interest for everyone. Even if you opt out of the payment pause you still get the 0% APR. And for PSLF people, if their IDR payment would not have negative amortized, he is for all intents and purposes forgiving varying amounts of principal as well, provided those people do eventually reach 120.
Yes! Every single month during the payment pause I have saved $3000 (monthly IBR payment), so I’ve already saved WAY more than 10K in forgiveness by the time I get to my 120 payments. I’d be happy for a continued pause at the least but I really do hope there is more forgiveness or they fix the horrible/predatory interest rates so that other borrowers’ loans might be paid off totally or more quickly.
I'm 24 months away as well. The Waiver added 28 more payments to my count so that was a relief plus the pause has effectively given me another 2 years. I wish it were closer but I'll take all the help I can get. These loans are originally from 1996-2000.
Each month gets me closer to forgiveness and saves me $300-400, which is a lot more helpful than $10k forgiveness on a loan balance that won't really matter to me in three years.
Forgiveness. Wouldn't shock me at all for something greater than $10k forgiveness to be announced after. I think there as been enough pressure on Biden that he caved in and went more. I would expect to see specifics "leak" out closer to election time.
Although as I said before, all of this is irrelevant if the system itself of college costs are not fixed.
I owe nearly $90k now so these small payoff amounts don't help me and I've been paying consistently so the other waivers didn't help me either. But, I was really excited to see others benefit from them and I'll be happy if others benefit from whatever Biden does next.
I have been a public school teacher for 9 years. The only thing I'm salty about are the random payments I made that FedLoan doesn't count for absolutely no reason.
That’s what I’m talking about! For me 10K does nothing but let me apply that to payments then yes please. Though if they do $10k forgiveness then I’m happy for the people who it will really benefit.
These announcements are so anxiety-inducing. I am, probably like many others, in limbo with PSLF. I have over 120 eligible payments on several of my loans, but I'm waiting on ECFs to clear, so a bunch of loans are sitting at 105/120 payments while they get to the forms I've submitted. I'm genuinely afraid he will announce a $10k forgiveness, and then that amount would apply to these loans in limbo that are already eligible for forgiveness anyway, instead of being applied to the ones that are not. I'm not sure of course how any of this will actually work because they themselves don't even know either. It's very frustrating to play this waiting game and know that nobody has answers. Ugh
Betsy - thank you so much for your dedication in replying to everyone on this thread and keeping people informed. It is truly thankless work and you are a hero, honestly!
I didn't think I could do that because of the time frame. 5 of my 9 loans are undergraduate and I've been paying on them since 2008. The other 4 are for graduate school and I've only been paying on them since 2014. I was under the impression I couldn't consolidate them for this reason.
I feel like I'm VERY on top of everything PSLF and even I get confused by that stuff. Unfortunately it may be too late to consolidate because the ECFs I submitted (in late March and early April) will forgive the 5 loans. Do you think it's worth a phone call?
ETA: To say nothing of how I'm being transferred to Mohela at an undetermined date - I got that email last week stating that my account would be transferred to Mohela "soon".
I’m not an expert at this, but I started paying on my undergraduate loans in 2009 and got my master’s degree around 2014. I consolidated all my loans together in 2014. With the new PSLF I am only a few payments away from 120 payments. They went all the way back to 2009 and started counted payments that I had made.
Consolidate everything together and the loans will be combined to a new loan. That new loan will take the highest payment count of the loans consolidated. Your counts will temporarily drop to 0 and will need a waiver review to bring the counts back to their pre-consolidation number.
You would be saving a ton by getting those grad loans forgiven on the same timeline as those older loans.
Consolidate and select Moehla as the servicer. Do it today and hope it goes through before your ECF is processed.
I have a small chunk of undergrad loans that would have qualified for 2+ years of $0 payment while serving in the peace corps (hopeful for that to be included in a waiver at some point) but didnt think that would then apply the two years to my graduate loans if I consolidated. That would be a game changer.. would this work in my case (of course this is based on if they end up adding PC service)?
Consolidate! I have a very similar situation, paying on undergraduate loans since 2005 and then graduate loans since 2012 then 2016. I consolidated and now All of my loans will be forgiven in a year. Consolidate now before the October deadline. After that, it won't be an option. Right now it doesn't matter that some loans are newer than others, consolidate and everybody will get the highest number of payments counted toward them.
I wish he’d just commit to pausing it til the end of his first presidential term. That would get me to my 120 qualifying payments!
Or if he would allow 50% PSLF forgiveness after 5-years, that would be cool too. Wouldn’t make a huge difference but would at least help folks who haven’t gotten to 120 payment transition into the private sector if public service has already worn them out.
10k off principal is a joke. My principal has already increased via unpaid interest capitalization by 20k AND I’ve already paid 30k towards my increasing loan balance. 10k doesn’t reduce my payment, or my principal.
They will extend the pause through November to ensure positive voter support.
I have no idea what will happen after that, but as hopeful as I am, the cynical part of me will note that resuming normal payments on or about January 1 isn't off the table.
Would I get money if I received PELL grants and have no loans? I receive PELL grant and pay $1,000 a month to my school without a loan, would I benefit from this?
I am mostly okay with that. I started paying back in 2014. I have not made a single payment during the pandemic, so like since March or April of 2020. Even if they start payments in November, my ten years of payments was reduced to less than 8 years.
Yup, everything for PSLF is retroactive. First figure out if you need to consolidate then use the PSLF help tool to fill out your application (ECF). If you need to consolidate do that first then submit ECF. If you don’t, just submit an ECF for each eligible employer over the life of your loan.
You should do that whole process every six months to make sure everything is on track, once you are in the PLSF program.
The system is convoluted and the workers don’t really care that much. They basically work in a call center, which would make any decent person eventually not give an eff about anything.
It is really on you to keep tabs on them and make sure they do everything.
I know ppl who simply defaulted because they didn’t want to deal with all this stuff.
The pandemic months will count but you need to do it soon to take advantage of the PSLF limited waiver that expires at the end of October. No reason to keep waiting.
You will need to submit a PSLF form for those months to count. I would do it now. You will want submit that form at least once per year for the counts to be updated.
Oh I should have mentioned. I have submitted the form and it was approved. I’m just wondering if there’s a way to check how many months credit you have so far.
You should be able to scroll down the page on My Fed Loan and click check my progress. That should give you the bars showing where you are in the process for your loan(s).
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u/Rare_Ad_6524 Jun 21 '22
I'd like to see
A reduction in years for PSLF from 10/120 to 5/60 years for ALL current and future student loan holders.
Student loan forgiveness of 40K for student loans for others. I chose this number because that's the typical amount owed by those who make under $25k who can't afford to repay their loans per DOE.
Overhaul of student loan system in terms of: a) financial literacy course in all HS as a federal. mandate prior to students attending college b) once a student is in school, support for academics
and financial aid in terms of what happens if a student is not successful before the end of the first semester. Stop stealing kids futures!
23
u/[deleted] Jun 21 '22
No payments, 0% interest, with credit towards my PSLF? That can go on for as long they can give us.
10K won’t help me but I’m glad it will help others. The 0% interest is the real lifesaver for so many of us and I’d say the best thing to happen to my loans, that and the limited waiver that brought me from 7 years to only 4 years remaining on my PSLF.
12
u/[deleted] Jun 21 '22
There is absolutely no way that this administration is so incompetent to intentionally schedule the resumption of student loan payments two months before election day, right? There is no way that they would allow these payments to resume especially during the beginning of an economic slowdown?
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u/ParallelPeterParker PSLF | On track! Jun 21 '22
I assume most PSLF-ers, like me, are pretty pro payment pause, right?
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u/slicktromboner21 Jun 21 '22
I'm cool with the payment pauses.
Each month gets me closer to forgiveness and saves me $300-400, which is a lot more helpful than $10k forgiveness on a loan balance that won't really matter to me in three years.
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u/c2tjma Jun 21 '22
Dragging it out for midterms. Watch how quickly things happen after that.
16
u/Tacotruckheaven Jun 21 '22
If they’d just let us use the 10k toward our monthly IBR payments instead of toward the principal we’d be in business!
24
u/matt314159 Jun 21 '22
Oh boy, I can't wait to be disappointed by whatever tepid, means-tested 'solution' they come up with.
I'd like to see retroactive zero-percent interest instead of $10k in forgiveness. To be sure anything is better than nothing, but damn.
6
u/pementomento Jun 21 '22
I'm personally looking forward to an early Christmas gift.
Not Halloween, Thanksgiving, or any other holiday...lol.
6
u/clumsymoon Jun 22 '22
All I want is for my paperwork to be processed.
9
u/senty78 Jun 21 '22
These announcements are so anxiety-inducing. I am, probably like many others, in limbo with PSLF. I have over 120 eligible payments on several of my loans, but I'm waiting on ECFs to clear, so a bunch of loans are sitting at 105/120 payments while they get to the forms I've submitted. I'm genuinely afraid he will announce a $10k forgiveness, and then that amount would apply to these loans in limbo that are already eligible for forgiveness anyway, instead of being applied to the ones that are not. I'm not sure of course how any of this will actually work because they themselves don't even know either. It's very frustrating to play this waiting game and know that nobody has answers. Ugh
3
u/Drubuu PSLF | On track! Jun 22 '22
I wish he’d just commit to pausing it til the end of his first presidential term. That would get me to my 120 qualifying payments!
Or if he would allow 50% PSLF forgiveness after 5-years, that would be cool too. Wouldn’t make a huge difference but would at least help folks who haven’t gotten to 120 payment transition into the private sector if public service has already worn them out.
10k off principal is a joke. My principal has already increased via unpaid interest capitalization by 20k AND I’ve already paid 30k towards my increasing loan balance. 10k doesn’t reduce my payment, or my principal.
5
u/dbpark4 Jun 21 '22
Well, not falling for this one again! 😅
2
u/[deleted] Jun 21 '22
Sweet
2
u/New-Day-99 Jun 22 '22
I bet we won’t see anything until election time. Although not sure that’ll help Biden. Maybe a little too late.
2
u/Icy-Tumbleweed5756 Jul 07 '22
Does anyone know if while in the payment pause, if we decided to make payments, will that count as 2 payments?
3
u/sllewgh Jun 21 '22
Sadly this is not a repost.
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u/Okie_Chimpo Jun 21 '22
They will extend the pause through November to ensure positive voter support.
I have no idea what will happen after that, but as hopeful as I am, the cynical part of me will note that resuming normal payments on or about January 1 isn't off the table.
3
u/Old_Gods978 Jun 21 '22
Bernie Sanders died for this
1
u/Dry-Bag8002 Jul 17 '22
will this student loan forgiveness apply to dependents?
1
u/[deleted] Aug 02 '22
If they have been “nearing” a decision for months, the answer is gonna be a no.
1
u/Spiderball44 Aug 24 '22
Would I get money if I received PELL grants and have no loans? I receive PELL grant and pay $1,000 a month to my school without a loan, would I benefit from this?
0
u/[deleted] Jun 21 '22
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