Studies have shown a strong correlation between debt and anxiety, especially student debt. Greater debt tends to be reflected in a greater amount of anxiety, which hits folks like physicians—who already have high-stress, demanding jobs—especially hard. Couple that with the added catastrophic strain of a pandemic on healthcare professionals and you’ve got a one-two punch to your mental health.
So what’s the solution? Where do we go from here?
When Congress passed the CARES Act in 2020, it placed all federally-owned student loans in forbearance, freezing all payments, interest accrual, and income recertifications. That means if you have Direct, Perkins, PLUS, FFEL, or HEAL loans owned by the Dept. of Education, they’re on hold until the end of September 2021. Any privately-held loans, unfortunately, do not count.
When Congress passed the CARES Act in 2020, it placed all federally-owned student loans in forbearance, freezing all payments, interest accrual, and income recertifications. That means if you have Direct, Perkins, PLUS, FFEL, or HEAL loans owned by the Dept. of Education, they’re on hold until the end of September 2021. Any privately-held loans, unfortunately, do not count.
When Congress passed the CARES Act in 2020, it placed all federally-owned student loans in forbearance, freezing all payments, interest accrual, and income recertifications. That means if you have Direct, Perkins, PLUS, FFEL, or HEAL loans owned by the Dept. of Education, they’re on hold until the end of September 2021. Any privately-held loans, unfortunately, do not count.
If you have student loans and are on an IDR plan, you can likely benefit from the extension. Studentaid.gov says,
“You will not have to recertify your income before the end of the COVID-19 emergency relief period, regardless of whether your recertification date would have happened prior to the end of the relief period. As part of the payment suspension, your recertification date has been pushed out from your original recertification date. You will be notified of your new recertification date before it is time to recertify.”
Join us June 7, 14, 21 & 28 as Joy and Ryan navigate the muddy waters of student debt and how you can “flip the script on student debt.”
At Navigate, we are working to bring our expertise to bear on the injustices of student debt. Earlier this year, the Student Borrower Protection Center wrote powerfully about the ways in which the student debt crisis is a civil rights crisis: “The reality for Black and Latino borrowers who bear the brunt of this debt load and its consequences is even more stark, making student loan debt a key barrier to racial equity.” We have work to do.
If you’re in repayment, it’s likely you have some special forms your loan servicer requires. Unless you’re on the standard 10-year repayment plan, you need to submit an income recertification annually for your income-driven repayment (IDR).
For those pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), you should also be submitting an employer certification form as well so you can track your progress.
PSLF – Public Service Loan Forgiveness can eliminate all remaining student loan debt for those who have made qualifying on-time payments over ten years. Anyone who is a full-time employee of federal, state, local, or tribal governments; a 501(c)(3) non-profit or certain other public service organizations qualifies.
Right now, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, income recertifications have been put on hold under the national emergency forbearance. For borrowers whose loans are serviced by FedLoan—which includes anyone pursuing PSLF—your recertification has been extended by 20 months.
Eli Wilson
Sarah Pflug