Following the hearings in June, the Dept. of Ed. made a request for comments, an opportunity for borrowers pursuing PSLF to join the process. To amplify your voices, the Student Borrower Protection Center has partnered with a number of state and national organizations to collect borrower stories and send them on to Washington.
What can we do to change the culture around student debt? First off, we need to start talking about it.
With student loan payments resuming in less than two months, it’s a good idea to start preparing sooner rather than later.
With student loan payments resuming in less than two months, it’s a good idea to start preparing sooner rather than later.
On July 8th, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) announced that it will not renew its contract with the Department of Education. After December 14th, they will no longer service the federal student loans, including those of PSLF pursuants.
For those pursuing PSLF, they’ve had the added benefit that these months of forbearance have counted toward their 120 qualifying payments required for forgiveness. The economy, however, remains fragile, and many are wondering what will happen as student payments resume in the coming months—not to mention the end of expanded unemployment benefits for millions of Americans.
So what’s the solution? Where do we go from here?
For those pursuing PSLF, they’ve had the added benefit that these months of forbearance have counted toward their 120 qualifying payments required for forgiveness. The economy, however, remains fragile, and many are wondering what will happen as student payments resume in the coming months—not to mention the end of expanded unemployment benefits for millions of Americans.
So what’s the solution? Where do we go from here?
For those pursuing PSLF, they’ve had the added benefit that these months of forbearance have counted toward their 120 qualifying payments required for forgiveness. The economy, however, remains fragile, and many are wondering what will happen as student payments resume in the coming months—not to mention the end of expanded unemployment benefits for millions of Americans.
So what’s the solution? Where do we go from here?
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.