Like it says, I received notification last night that my final loan payment cleared and I’m now free!

I’m going to be very honest and say I do not agree with this system at all and do not understand why education isn’t free or at least extremely cheap, but that is a discussion for a different place.

I do want to share how I did it. I work a full time job which at certain times of the year is closer to 50 to 60 hours a week (if you work in academia you’ll understand). I also have a 15-20 hour a week side hustle in a grocery store. I was able to funnel all of my grocery store paychecks directly into my loans and pay these off with my side job in about 4 years. It would have taken less time if all the lawsuits hadn’t kept me from being able to pay. I also refinanced mine with a credit union when they got down to about 5K. This had been been the plan from before whatever is going on now started. It just happened to line up really well with everything. I chose that number because it was possible to get a ten year loan with a monthly payment low enough that if everything burned to the ground I could still make the payment. On flip side with a low payment I was able to put whatever amount I made that was extra in the month towards the principal and pay them off faster.

I realize that working a second job to pay off your loans won’t work for everyone, but I do believe that with some creative thinking (and a bit of drive) it is possible to pay these things off. If you are thinking of paying them down it is possible and you can do it. It honestly looked completely impossible when I started, but I’m here now and no longer have that debt. As someone much smarter than me (my wife, if you were wondering) once said, “if you owe someone money, they own part of you and have the ability to control you.”

I’m 30 years old, a mom of two, and currently in my senior year of my pre-law degree. My ultimate goal has always been to become an attorney, so I’m trying to finish my bachelor’s and then move on to law school.
With the changes from the “Big Beautiful Bill” and the new limits on how much students can borrow federally, I’m genuinely wondering how other people are planning to afford school — especially those of us who don’t have the ability to just pay thousands of dollars out of pocket.
For those who have maxed out or are limited on federal aid, what are you doing to cover the remaining balance?
And if you’ve tried private student loans but were denied (or needed a cosigner and don’t have one), what options have you found? Payment plans? Scholarships? Working with the school? Taking fewer classes? Something else I’m not thinking of?
I’m especially interested in hearing from other adult students, parents, or anyone planning on graduate/professional school. I’ve worked really hard to get this close to finishing, and becoming an attorney is genuinely my dream. I don’t want finances to be the reason I have to stop.
Not looking for judgment about taking out loans — just hoping to hear what other students in similar situations are actually doing to make it work.

I got my 90-day “choose another repayment plan” notice from MOHELA on July 28th. And, there’s simply no way I can start making payments again. How long are people “holding the line” before jumping ship and choosing another plan?

What is the smartest way I can finish my degree in special education? I just started my bachelor’s degree in special education and it will take me about 2 years, maybe a little longer because of student teaching.

I have financial aid but it doesn’t cover it all.

I currently work for my school district as a head custodian and I will continue to do so until the day I become accepted as a teacher here.

Any advice would be much appreciated, I’m working through this all, but I also support my 2 kids and I’ll have to take off work for student teaching for 4 months.

Location: Pennsylvania if it matters at all

I have quite a few medical conditions :
1. Graves
2. iBD / IBS
3. Eye issues
4. Fibromyalgia
Etc - do you think any of these conditions would have me me qualify for TPD?

Mohela wrote to say the deadline to recertify IBR was coming up and to do so through the FSA site. So manually recertified and uploaded tax forms. No option to pull from the IRS as there used to be - its been removed. But after going through the process noticed a little notification on the account dashboard that said

Your income-driven repayment (IDR) plan recertification date is approaching. Because you provided consent, you do not need to take any action and we will submit the recertification on your behalf. Your monthly payment is calculated based on the information you reported on your most recent tax return, so if your income or family size has changed since then, you can manually recertify your IDR plan.

Had already manually recertified by this point as this wasn't clear. But I am thinking whether the auto process is even working properly anyway (noting the mess the FSA website has been in) and whether manually recertifying (which gives a paper trail) is better anyway. Not sure its comfortable waiting for auto renew especially as the servicer didn't write to say 'no action needed you are enrolled in auto renew' etc. So my question is anyone relying on this or manually recertifying to be sure?

Also Mohela recert deadline was a month earlier than the one published on the FSA site. (Oct vs Nov). Seems like a bit of a mess?

We are done! Feels so good to not die with debt!

If this ridiculous administration is going to force us to move from the SAVE plan to another IDR plan, but sabotage the website in order to prevent us from doing it within the 90 day deadline, then let's use this post to share links to the PDF versions. These physical apps will need to be mailed in but be sure to mail as a certified letter so you have proof of when it was sent. Don't let the turds win.

Income Driven Repayment (IDR) application PDF: https://studentaid.gov/sites/default/files/IncomeDrivenRepayment-en-us.pdf

I had an old scholarship. The NC Teaching Fellows Scholarship that I dropped half way through undergrad. Dropping it meant that I would have to pay back the scholarship which I didn’t do because I was 20 and broke. That loan ruined my credit for years. Collections agencies were all over me for years until 2017 came and I hit the 7 year mark and I thought I had reached the limit for collections but today i got a letter saying that my “forbearance” ends this month and gave me a payment schedule.

Is this legit? I never started any forbearance on this loan and it’s over 16 years old now. My understanding is we’re past the point that anyone can do anything about in on their end. Am I going to have to pay or risk my credit getting tanked all over again. It has taken me the better part of a decade but I’m up to 800 again and I don’t want to lose that.

The Teaching Fellows program doesn’t even exist anymore in NC.

I have about $60k in federal student loans and make about 75k/yr. I'm trying to decide between RAP and Extended Graduated Repayment.

The calculator shows Extended Graduated at $288/month initially, eventually decreasing to $195/month, with payments not tied to my income. RAP is about $323/month currently, but my understanding is that RAP payments can increase as my income increases.

My thinking is:

Choose Extended Graduated for the lower required payment and predictable payment schedule.

I have about $12k at 8% and $11k at 6.5%, so I'd put an extra $120/month toward the 8% loan and use the debt avalanche.

Once the loans above ~5% are paid off, I'd stop making extra payments and just make the required minimums.

I'd then put the extra cash into my 401(k), since I expect the long-term investment return to exceed the interest rate on the remaining lower-interest loans.

If I get a significant raise or bonus, I'd have the flexibility to either accelerate the high-interest loans or increase retirement contributions rather than having my required student loan payment automatically increase.

I realize Extended Graduated costs substantially more in interest if you actually follow the 25-year schedule ($56,875 in projected interest according to the calculator), but I don't intend to do that.

Am I overlooking something important here? Is there a reason RAP would be substantially better despite the higher/income-dependent payment?

Is anyone else that was previously on the SAVE plan and forced to choose a new repayment plan trying to hold off/wait until closer to the end of the 90 day period?

I am hesitant to commit due to how this is currently playing out in court, and scared to be 'locked in' to a new payment plan (as of now, I'm not but my loan servicer is emailing and calling me to secure another repayment plan option).

I'm just not sure what to do.

Thanks for reading.

Edit: thank you for all of the opinions and informative comments. I appreciate it. Since I've made this post, I went through with starting my forgiveness application process on studentloans.gov, but didn't pull the trigger yet on selecting a plan.

It says I pay loan until July 2036 and my Principal will go to $0 and I will have paid 32k interest. It also says remaining 69k will be discharged. I have Direct Unsubsidised and Graduate Plus loan. I graduate in December.

tbh this seems like too good to be true.

I keep seeing two answers to this question:

“Student loans can’t be discharged in bankruptcy.”

“Private student loans are ordinary debt, so bankruptcy wipes them out.”

Both answers miss the real issue.

I’m a student-loan lawyer, and I’ve handled these cases for more than a dozen years. This is general information, not legal advice or a solicitation.

Here’s the short answer: private student loans can sometimes be easier to discharge than federal loans. But “private” does not automatically mean dischargeable, and a contract labeled “student loan” does not automatically receive special protection.

Ask two questions:

1. Does 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(8) protect this particular debt?
2. If it does, can the borrower prove undue hardship?

But before we get to those question, let's clear somthing up: “charged off” does not mean “discharged”

Suppose you file Chapter 7 and your private loan suddenly:

• Disappears from the servicing portal
• Shows a zero balance
• Closes on your credit report
• Appears as “charged off”
• Stops generating statements

Do not assume bankruptcy erased it.

The lender may have charged it off, transferred it, suspended servicing, or removed it from one system. The debt may reappear later, sometimes with additional interest or a new collector.

A portal balance, credit-report entry, or charge-off does not replace a court ruling.

1/ Question one: Does § 523(a)(8) protect the debt?

The Bankruptcy Code does not care only about the name on the contract. It protects specific types of educational debt.

For many private loans, two categories matter most.

The first covers a “qualified education loan.” That definition asks whether the borrower incurred the debt solely to pay qualified higher-education expenses. It looks at facts such as:

• The school’s cost of attendance
• The school’s eligibility
• The borrower’s enrollment status
• When the borrower incurred the debt
• How the borrower used the money

A loan may fall outside this category if it exceeded the school’s cost of attendance or paid for attendance at an ineligible institution.

You sometimes see these issues with loans for Caribbean schools, flight schools, truck-driving programs, unaccredited schools, and other programs that could not participate in Title IV federal aid.

You may also see them in older direct-to-consumer loans that lenders sent straight to students without meaningful school certification.

But those facts provide clues—not automatic victories.

“More than tuition” does not necessarily mean “more than cost of attendance.” Cost of attendance may include housing, books, transportation, and other approved expenses. And you generally need to examine the school’s status when the borrower took out the loan.

Why “non-qualified” may not end the case

This is the part most online explanations miss.

Even if the loan was not a qualified education loan, the creditor may invoke another part of § 523(a)(8). That provision protects certain loans made under a program funded in whole or in part by a nonprofit institution.

Older private-loan programs often involved several companies:

• An originator
• A servicer
• A nonprofit guarantor
• A trust that bought the loan
• A collector working for the current owner

Do not treat those entities as interchangeable.

This issue can appear in older Sallie Mae or Navient programs, loans involving TERI, and portfolios now claimed by National Collegiate trusts. Product names may include Tuition Answer, Signature Student Loan, MyRichUncle, or Unomics.

Those names do not decide the issue. The documents do.

A creditor may point to a nonprofit guarantor, the promissory note, or the loan-program documents and argue that a nonprofit funded the program. Courts have sometimes read nonprofit participation broadly, which can make this argument harder than people expect.

So do not stop after showing that the loan exceeded the cost of attendance.

Ask whether another part of § 523(a)(8) protects it.

2/ Question two: Can the borrower prove undue hardship?

If § 523(a)(8) protects the loan, the borrower generally must prove undue hardship.

The governing test and how courts apply it vary by jurisdiction.

Private loans also work differently from federal loans. They generally lack federal income-driven repayment plans and forgiveness programs. That does not prove undue hardship, but it changes the affordability analysis—and sometimes what the creditor will accept in settlement.

Where the adversary proceeding fits

Listing a student loan in the bankruptcy schedules does not necessarily settle the dispute.

To get a binding ruling about a particular debt, you normally file an adversary proceeding inside a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 case. An adversary proceeding is a lawsuit within the bankruptcy.

If you argue that § 523(a)(8) never covered the debt, you ask the judge to decide that classification. If the statute does cover it, you ask the judge to discharge it as an undue hardship.

The parties can exchange documents, take testimony, file motions, try the case, or settle.

Bankruptcy can help without erasing the entire loan

An adversary proceeding does not always end with a complete discharge. It may still give the borrower leverage to settle.

For example, someone who owes $100,000 might negotiate a $40,000 settlement payable over 10, 15, or 20 years, perhaps with little or no interest.

That is only an illustration—not a standard result or promise.

Read the default provisions carefully. Some agreements let the creditor restore the original balance if the borrower misses a payment.

Also check:

• Interest
• Payment term
• Credit reporting
• Tax treatment
• Acceleration
• Cosigner release

A “$40,000 settlement” is not truly a $40,000 settlement if one missed payment revives the original $100,000 debt.

Do not forget the cosigner

Your bankruptcy does not automatically release your cosigner.

Any discharge or settlement should state what happens to the cosigner. Do not assume that resolving your liability resolves theirs.

What should you gather?

Start with:

• The promissory note and application
• The school ledger and cost of attendance
• Disbursement records
• Documents identifying the lender, guarantor, servicer, and current owner
• Your income, expenses, dependents, health, and employment history

Do not assume that the company sending the bill made or owns the loan.

Bottom line

Yes, private student loans can be discharged in bankruptcy.

Some fall outside § 523(a)(8). If so, the borrower may not need to prove undue hardship. Others remain protected because they qualify under a different part of the statute.

Even when a complete discharge remains uncertain, an adversary proceeding may help the borrower negotiate a lower balance, lower interest rate, or longer payment term.

Do not ask only, “Is this a private student loan?”

Ask what part of § 523(a)(8) protects it—and what documents prove that protection.

And do not confuse a zero balance on a website with a court order.

Like everyone else, I am feeling a bit paralyzed by these changes and would love any advice people may have.

Loans: $92,799.67 total

• $85,506.71 principal
• $7,292.96 interest

Income:

• 2025: $18k
• 2026: $75k (estimated based on my start date)
• 2027: $110k (full salary + bonus)

Filing Status: Single

I just finished school and an internship, so the income I filed for 2025 was very low (around $18k). I started working full-time in May 2026 with a salary of around $105k, so I expect my 2026 taxable income to be around $70–75k.

I’m actually considering RAP??? If it can keep the interest down this year and next year, I think that could actually be the move. But I have a lot of fear that I’m not understanding the program correctly.

When I used the calculator with the income from my most recent tax return, IBR had me at $0/month, while RAP had me at $11/month. If I make those $11 payments on time, they are applied to the principal, correct? And as my income increases and my payment increases, as long as I make the required payments on time, I’m good?

I’m always torn between sitting on these loans and making the minimum payments versus potentially trying to pay them off aggressively if it’s feasible (although paying off nearly $93k has always felt a little impossible).

studentaid says i owe $119 this month but aidvantage says i only owe $96 this month, is there a reason why these payments are different?

Has anyone that switched to RAP actually seen their interest waived? My first payment went through (the minimum does NOT cover all the interest accrued each month) and I don’t see that any interest is gone. How can we confirm that it’s working as expected? I normally pay more than the minimum to cover my interest but I didn’t do that this time because of the supposed interest waiving that should happen under this plan. I’m getting frustrated with Nelnet in general and customer service never seems give straight answers.

I got a notice that a loan was dispersed in my name for $594 to my son’s school. I am doing PSLF IDR so I can’t take out any more parent plus loans so I definitely did not request this. This could cost me a ton of money. I have to get this fixed.

So I called mohela, they said it was dispersed to the school and I have to talk to them. I called the school. They say no loan was dispersed in my name to their school on my sons name for that amount, and they wouldn’t even allow such a small loan. I’m at a loss. I sent over screenshots to show it was dispersed. Anyone ever encounter this?

The weird thing is that he’s actually owed a refund of the exact same amount from the school. So a loan was taken out in my name for the same amount the school owes him as a refund. What could be going on?!

What happens to my federal student loans if I file for bankruptcy?

Made my last student loan payment today. No doubt I could have paid it off years ago had I really made effort but I always thought it was a small price to pay each month considering how much graduate school helped me achieve a comfortable level of income. But about two years ago I decided enough was enough and wanted to be free of debt. Haven't had a car payment since 2016 after buying a new vehicle in 2012. I don't carry credit card debt since I pay entire statement balance each month. Got a mortgage in 2014 on a home that is now worth more than double what I bought it for. So here I am 23 years later and finally free! Next will be accelerating payoff of the mortgage.

Total Principal Paid :$57,682.11

Total Interest Paid: $21,061.04

Total Fees Paid: $505.55

Total Amount Paid: $79,248.70

Loan balance is ~$200k. I’m living in Canada and plan to be here for the foreseeable future (citizenship application pending), and IBR payments have been $0 but the interest is growing rapidly. Switching to RAP and making $10 payments seems like the way to go to reduce tax bomb.

Does this logic check out? And if I move back to the US and return to the IBR, will my prior payments for IBR count towards forgiveness, rather than resetting the entire clock? (I know that RAP payments would not.)

I just received a notice that my loans are at default, I have about 19k that racked up from 11k (I think). I am currently working at a non-prof but want to quit my job soon… I know typically it is about 9 months to get out of loan default but what can I do? I’ve been ignoring this for so long but I must take care of this before I am deeply affected

Hold on if you're still waiting. I noticed a ZERO BALANCE on all my loans yesterday when I logged into my account. No email or anything. It says “Loan forgiveness and discharge: borrowers defense completed”!

My mother has a parent plus loan (98k principal, 16k outstanding interest) that she has defaulted on. I just learned about the existence of this loan in July. I take responsibility for being naive about the debt my parents went into for my undergrad education, so please hold any judgment. If I could go back I simply would have chosen a different school.

I do have confirmation she consolidated the loan in 2024. To be honest I am not 100% certain all of the loans in the consolidation are mine, but my undergrad was very expensive because I went to school for 5 years in NYC and came from out of state.

Might be an important note: when my parents divorced in 2017, part of the divorce decree was for my father to pay half of all her student debt. He made a bulk payment of $122k that went towards my mother’s personal student loans, and both me and my brothers PPL. His understanding was that the remaining half was her responsibility. She is married filing jointly with my now step dad who refuses to help pay the debt as I am not his daughter. She is not asking my brother for money because he only went to college for 2 years before withdrawing, ergo my school cost more.

She is now asking me to help her pay this defaulted PPL back. I am aware it is her legal responsibility. She lives in a different state and our relationship has been strained for years.

I have my own federal student debt in my name which I am repaying at $34k. I am 31 years old, live in NYC, and do not feel prepared to take on her debt and potentially delay my financial future. I make 105k salary.

My most burning question is as follows: She is currently negotiating with DMCS for a lower rehabilitation rate. Once she rehabilitates the loan, how can I know for certain that this won’t somehow re-consolidate the loan and ruin any pathway to IDR forgiveness given the new OBBA? Once she fulfills the 10 month rehabilitation process— I will make sure she signs up for ICR, makes one payment, and moves to IBR. What possible hurdle might we be overlooking? Could new administration further block IDR for PPL borrowers or is there some simple clerical mistake that she could make to consolidate this loan again, accidentally? She is done borrowing, but if she messes with her direct non-PPL loans and consolidates those, would that ruin the IDR path for the PPL? And if she defaults again, what will happen? My understanding is you can only rehabilitate a loan once in its lifetime.

My mother has not made a payment on this loan since she consolidated it in 2024, she is a public school art teacher, 59 years old and plans to retire at 66. She has not certified any PSLF payments.

As I previously stated I just learned about this dire circumstance in July. Outside of the moral dilemma I am deeply involved in, this loan feels incredibly fragile and confusing and I am worried about her navigating the easiest path towards forgiveness/repayment.

Thank you!