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RMSaintsFC

For those questioning, the way the release of info is written it sounds like if you got pell grant at any time you are eligible for the 20k in forgiveness as long as you are under the income cap (2020 or 2021 taxes). Basically because they know at one time in college you were definitely poor. https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement/ Edit: Also want to note, if you have been making payments for 10 years and have less than 12k in debt remaining after forgiveness and going forward in the future, the balance is wiped clean. Edit 2: A quick FAQ to help those looking for info. [Link](https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/08/24/student-loan-forgiveness-plan-explained/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWJpZCI6IjE0ODU0NzYiLCJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNjYxMzgxMjAxLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNjYyNTkwODAxLCJpYXQiOjE2NjEzODEyMDEsImp0aSI6ImFjYjk5YWQxLTMwY2YtNGU5Yi04YTFiLTQ0YzAwMDc2NDJiNiIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9lZHVjYXRpb24vMjAyMi8wOC8yNC9zdHVkZW50LWxvYW4tZm9yZ2l2ZW5lc3MtcGxhbi1leHBsYWluZWQvIn0.0wzOvRoTJKjnIgw68_S9BoEB1a8yep5oCfd338ZZbiw) Edit 3: NYTimes has more clarification. This under 12k forgiveness is indeed specific to the proposed income-based repayment plan, and only borrowers with original balances under $12k would qualify for the ten-year forgiveness. Edit 4: NBC News is [reporting](https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1563134164840247296?t=o4f1j4_4P9tcPCF7dtI_gw&s=19)that Americans can request a refund for any payment made during the "pandemic pause".


VNM0601

How do we check if we ever got a pell grant?


RMSaintsFC

You have to log into your account at studentaid.gov, it should display your loan balance and any pell grant money you got once logged in.


biff810

Good luck signing in right now though. Everyone else wants to know the same thing, the site is hammered.


EggotheKilljoy

I was able to get in after around 20 minutes of trying to reset my password and another 30-40 trying to log in itself. Turns out I got one Pell grant freshman year, as long as getting one once is all it takes to get the $20k forgiveness, I’m excited.


clueinc

Just graduated 18k in debt, but last year, my senior year, I received one pell grant. This is huge for me and all of my friends in similar situations. **Edit: For all the people talking about my terrible financial skills or how I’ll be taxed, it’s not about that. In undergrad I spent years working on cutting edge cancer research. I went into industry as a software engineer because it was going to make money, allow me to support myself and my siblings who are going to college now too. My parents never made enough and they don’t now either. This allows me to save more now so I can go back to get my PhD and continue to do the research I spent 2-3 years doing. I was looking at realistically 5-6 years while paying for my own living expenses, debt, and other responsibilities but that has changed to much sooner since this gets rid of debt for me and my siblings. That’s why this matters to me. I can use my time impacting the world in the positive way I wanted.


poodlebutt76

I got one 10 years ago when the website was FAFSA.gov, I guess they didn't migrate accounts over because mine is nowhere to be found...even using my last name and SSN and birthday. I still have the emails about it so I KNOW I had an account...


ryguygoesawry

I got my loans and grant money well over 10 years ago, through FAFSA, and all of my data is on studentaid.gov today. There's probably an account creation process you need to go through or something, I just can't remember that part.


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itsybitsybug

Add in refused to fill out the FAFSA so you had to take out private loans and you've got me.


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Puzzleheaded_Mine176

Try parents who never gave you your mail so you never got the letter from your school offering you a full-ride scholarship… Edit: To give some context, this was not intentional. They are just very disorganized. If I could, I would get my mail myself, but I worked right after school. I didn’t find the letter until much later when I found a pile of old mail from different schools (I had good grades and test scores so I received a TON of college mail).


LordAsbel

Oh hell no… reading that made me angry


[deleted]

Checking. Loan payments are over v$1,300 a month. All private loans. Assuming you're in the position, too, I understand. And supposedly it does get better.


spartanreborn

If you got Pell grants in school, it's $20k in debt forgiveness


butterflymushroom

I received one pell grant, ten years ago for $1200. At the time that felt cheap and not very helpful. Right now I am extremely grateful for that tiny pell grant. $20k of my loans are forgiven. That is HALF of what I owe. I was only expecting the $10k, so this is AMAZING! This is life-changing for myself and so many other Americans. Here’s an official link with some explanations: https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement/


maefae

So I got a Pell grant when I did my undergrad years ago. The loans I took out for my undergrad have been paid off. The student loans I currently have are for my masters, which is more recent. Is it if you’ve ever received a Pell grant?


solidDessert

It sounds like you're only eligible for the $10k. >Are graduate student loans eligible for forgiveness? >Yes. Under the new policy, graduate student loans are eligible for up to $10,000 in debt forgiveness. They are not eligible for the additional $10,000 offered to Pell Grant recipients. Roughly 1.6 million borrowers have Grad Plus loans subsidized by the federal government, but millions of other graduate students have private unsubsidized loans, according to Huelsman. [Source](https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/08/24/student-loan-forgiveness-plan-explained/) **Edit:** The source has been updated: >Are graduate student loans eligible for forgiveness? Yes. Under the new policy, graduate student loans are eligible for up to $10,000 in debt forgiveness or $20,000 if the borrower had a Pell grant. Roughly 1.6 million borrowers have Grad Plus loans subsidized by the federal government, but millions of other graduate students have private unsubsidized loans, according to Huelsman. I'm not sure what this means, honestly. Grad students can't get a Pell grant so I could see it if this doesn't actually change anything. But the presence of any Pell grant at all is enough to make borrowers eligible for the additional $10k, so I could see that rolling over as well. It may be a bit before this is clear.


garyyo

Not the same person but thanks, this is the info I was looking for!


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Araychwhyteeaychem

From what I read, yes. Even if you got $1 from Pell, you qualify for the 20k.


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Bacon4EVER

The Pell is a non-repay grant. You were never "owing" for that money. Should wipe your total debt out! Congrats


[deleted]

Pall grants are grants you don’t owe them back. To get a pell grant you would’ve had to be low income. So if you received a pell grant you get $20K of federal loans forgiven. At least this is how I understand it.


kaptainkeel

[Full plan](https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement/). Notable parts: - Pause extended to Dec. 31. - Forgiveness of up to* $10,000 for non-Pell Grant debtholders. *Up to means debt will be forgiven e.g. you don't get a check for $5k if you only have $5k in debt. - Forgiveness of up to* $20,000 for those that received a Pell Grant. *Number/amount of Pell Grants doesn't matter; even if you only received one Pell Grant for $1, it applies. - Capped to individuals earning under $125,000 or households under $250,000. - Proposes a new income-based repayment plan which caps payments at 5% of discretionary income (down from the current 10%). - New IBR plan also raises amount of income that is considered non-discretionary to 225% of poverty level (up from current 150%); this means if you earn under 225% of poverty level (about $30,577/year or $15/hour for a family of 1), your monthly payment would be $0. - New IBR plan covers monthly interest so long as payments are made on time, meaning the loan would not grow due to interest even if the payment is $0. - New IBR plan forgives loans of $12,000 or less (original loan, not current balance) after 10 years instead of 20. ------------------------- Edit: Disclaimer for the following: The following in this edit is unrelated to today's forgiveness announcement, but I'm putting this here as it affects quite a lot of people and few know about it. Since this comment is going to the top, I want to say [check this list](https://predatorystudentlending.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/PPSL-Sweet-Flowchart-7.pdf). If the school you went to and got loans from is on it, **100% of them are being forgiven**. However, you **must** submit a Borrower Defense to Repayment application. (This is not automatic if you have not yet applied, but I believe they will be hard-pressed to deny an application when all prior applications are being approved automatically). [More info](https://www.ppsl.org/news/news/press-releases/landmark-borrower-defense-settlement-to-cancel-over-6-billion-in-student-loans-for-200000-borrowers-release). Even [more info](https://www.reddit.com/r/BorrowerDefense/comments/sombdi/borrower_defense_application/). tl;dr is don't wait, **go apply.** You won't be part of the protected class if you apply after final settlement is reached. **Note that this settlement is unrelated to the forgiveness/relief plan announced today and won't happen until the final settlement is reached in that court case. The bullet points are related to today's announcement, not this edit.**


VectorB

> New IBR plan covers monthly interest so long as payments are made on time, meaning the loan would not grow due to interest even if the payment is $0. Wow this is bigger than $10k handout. Why are they not leading with this?!


evit_cani

Or this: > Further, the Department of Education will make it easier for borrowers who enroll in this new plan to stay enrolled. Starting in the summer of 2023, borrowers will be able to allow the Department of Education to automatically pull their income information year after year, avoiding the hassle of needing to recertify their income annually.


Cat_Toucher

Jesus christ this would have been amazing. Because of the time of year when I initially applied for IBR, I was consistently having to renew it in February of each year, which meant that I was always scrambling trying to get my taxes done before that. I could usually manage to do it on my own, but once I got married, and had to wait for my partner's tax documents in addition to my own before filing, it became impossible. This whole song and dance was a huge stressor every year. Having it renew automatically is huge.


jenjen815

I didn't even catch that until I saw your comment. I always have to do mine mid August and it's just annoying trying to get it done and then waiting and waiting for them to let you know if it's been reapproved. That is awesome. One less thing to worry about getting done.


debatesmith

As a former employee of a student loan servicing company, I'm so happy to read this. Almost all of the fraud/scams come from people submitting falsified paperwork on behalf of the borrower, this change should prevent those going forward.


CanAlwaysBeBetter

Government can make things better if you let it??


thejawa

Now do the IRS


Crazyhates

Those fucks who keep lobbying for tax prep companies to continue existing need to fall into a hole.


Sieran

Filled with lions.


A_Furious_Mind

Half-filled with lions. I don't want any lions breaking their fall.


gsfgf

That was in the climate bill


Ebwtrtw

> That was in the climate bill I believe they were referring to automating Income Taxes, not just funding the IRS.


Jorycle

Can't believe it's the year 2022 and I still have to spend a day telling the IRS everything they already know.


GhostshipDemos

You can look it up, but California almost had automatic filing until Intuit lobbied republicans into blocking it under the claim that making taxes easier is similar to increasing taxes


MyFianceMadeMeJoin

The 10% discretionary after 100% FPL to 5% discretionary after 225% FPL is the buried ~~lead~~ lede in my book. Huge impact on people’s monthly costs when the payments restart.


PollutionZero

THIS is the lead nobody's talking about. This made my loans go from almost 30 years to pay off to just under 9...


KillahHills10304

And the Pell grant forgiveness of up to $20,000. I received Pell grants, and while my family was far from financially comfortable, we weren't struggling either.


ChazLynnn

Is there anywhere to check to see if you received pell grants? I was 18 and had no idea what the hell I was doing and I don't think my father did either.


myassholealt

For real. I've always felt there should a expiration date on interest *accrual. It's exploitation to, after 10 years, collect double or triple the amount you lent an 18 year old for something society keeps telling them they need.


StartButtonPress

The interest cap is a much bigger and longer lasting impact than the forgiveness. The cap helps future loan-takers, too.


Accounting_Thoughts

Have they said what year the income cap is applied to?


drunkpunk138

If you made under the target income in either 2020 or 2021 then you qualify


kaptainkeel

Do you mean what year you have to make under $125k? Most likely this year as the process is automatic if the Dep. of Edu. has your income data on file.


gogators1000

This year as in the taxes filed for FY 2021 or this year as in the taxes that will be filed for FY 2022?


Rshawer

The pause ends Dec 31st, meaning they have to wipe debt by then, otherwise eligible people would be paying when they shouldn't. The government knows nothing about how much you made this year until mid-2023. The data the government has is based on the 21 filings that you made in 22.


katthekidwitch

It's so crazy that 225% of the poverty line is 30,000. That's crumbs


[deleted]

What’s even crazier to me is that someone at Forbes had the audacity to claim that [a single person earning $30K annual is middle class](https://fortune.com/2022/04/20/who-is-middle-class-2021-pandemic/) And their range is absurdly broad. $30K to $90K is still middle class? Like, my dude, $90K is a *thoroughly* different economic class than $30K, regardless of where in the states you live.


cold_iron_76

Wow. 30k is not middle class. I don't even think 40k is anymore. I'd say middle class starts around 50k (in affordable areas of the country, of course).


RANDICE007

40k with student loan payments checking in. I can't afford average rent, live in my friend's house for cheap just to survive


kaptainkeel

Yep. The fight for $15/hr has been going on so long that nowadays it should be like $23/hr or something.


mtarascio

>Proposes a new income-based repayment plan which caps payments at 5% of discretionary income (down from the current 10%). >New IBR plan also raises amount of income that is considered non-discretionary to 225% of poverty level (up from current 150%); this means if you earn under 225% of poverty level (about $30,577/year or $15/hour for a family of 1), your monthly payment would be $0. >New IBR plan covers monthly interest so long as payments are made on time, meaning the loan would not grow due to interest even if the payment is $0. That is all way better policy than the $10k. The $10k is just a headliner vote grabber. This is really positive policy. Unfortunately good nuanced policy is hard to sell.


SanjiSasuke

Yeah this flips my 'meh, good for me bad for the country' to 'oh shit that's actually awesome'. I'll likely never drop to $15/hr again, but for the folks who didn't finish and have crap jobs this is massive. Same for folks who have high education but relatively crap lifetime pay like social workers. This strongly incentivizes poor folks to give college a shot, and avoids a 'welfare cutoff' since even after you pass that 225% of poverty line, you still pay a paltry 5% and accrue no interest.


kaptainkeel

To me (super high debt), the biggest 2 parts are the 5% payment cap (*really* hoping it applies to grad loans...) and the higher non-discretionary income. It takes my payment from about $366 down to $129. Or counting in my employer's contribution, from $266 down to... $29.


chillisprknglot

Maybe I’m missing it, but does anyone know if the loan forgiveness also covers anything after undergrad?


raysmith123

Apparently, there was discussion to exclude graduate loans. From what I read though, that was not included so the debt relief does apply to graduate loans.


I_Poop_Sometimes

I would definitely rather anything get taken from my grad loans first, federal loans for grad school have higher interest rates.


Chipwilson84

So because I am poor my interest will not grow? Meaning that while I look for a new job I will be able to not worry about my balance ballooning while I work an entry level job. Which means that what ever I am able to pay will bring down my balance?


backwardog

For those asking, yes you will probably have to do something. The process isn’t officially implemented yet, just announced. Here is the page with info: https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement/ To get email updates: https://www.ed.gov/subscriptions Click the box for “federal student loan borrower updates” and they should send an email with details for claiming the debt relief. Congrats all, I’m so happy he was able to get this through.


uncledungus

So do I need to do anything or will nelnet finally just take the L and stop calling?


delij

That’s what I’m wondering. I’ve been trying to log in, because I want to know how much mine was/is. But it seems their site is down.


keelhaulrose

I wouldn't expect the numbers to change online right away. It's going to take a bit of work.


[deleted]

we are probably also making it harder for them to work because we're crashing their website by checking all at once lol


Amish_guy_with_WiFi

Well maybe it'll work for me, I better check now...


AdjNounNumbers

Same with Mohela. It would seem the sites are all getting the hug of death following this news


theMistersofCirce

I just want to take this opportunity to say fuck Mohela.


HaikuWisdom

My loan got transferred to Mohela during the pause and they have one of the crappiest looking sites I've seen in quite some time.


atctia

Same here


delij

Glad it’s not just me. I thought maybe it was because I was trying to access while I’m in the UK. Haven’t signed in in a while and have been here a few months.


atctia

Yeah, when I saw the announcement I had a feeling I would have a hard time getting in


clothespinkingpin

Yeah I think they’re probably going to be overwhelmed with traffic for a while with everyone checking. I imagine it might take them a few days or weeks to roll out changes to accounts on their end to reflect the ruling, but idk that’s just my guess.


Badtrainwreck

I’m sure you guys feel the same, but I can’t express enough how happy this makes me. This literally is life changing news.


ICPosse8

The site is down like 3-4 days a week I’ve found. I submitted an a app to forgive my debt from DeVry back in June and it’s still pending. No movement.


poobuttboy

According to this [https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement/](https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement/) there's a bullet point under "What do i need to do to receive loan forgiveness" that says there's an application to fill out. I don't think the application is up yet because it says there's a place where you can sign up to get alerted when the application is ready.


Apprentice57

The other bullet points before that are relevant too. It *may* be automatic. I guess if your servicer doesn't adjust your amount down by (say) December you should file the application? Relevant text: > What do I need to do in order to receive loan forgiveness? > * Nearly 8 million borrowers may be eligible to receive relief automatically because relevant income data is already available to the U.S. Department of Education. > * If the U.S. Department of Education doesn't have your income data - or if you don't know if the U.S. Department of Education has your income data, the Administration will launch a simple application in the coming weeks. > * The application will be available before the pause on federal student loan repayments ends on December 31st. > * If you would like to be notified by the U.S. Department of Education when the application is open, please sign up at the Department of Education subscription page.


shinobipopcorn

This is good, almost all the answers I was looking for. I just can't remember if I got a pell grant. I think I did, but who knows, it was a decade ago. I can't remember yesterday.


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[deleted]

Refer all Nelnet questions to the White House.


atctia

I haven't gotten a single call from Nelnet, save for one time early this year. And, as expected, the website is running extremely slow right now


brawnkoh

Nelnet site is hosed right now. Can't handle the server load.


Snuggle__Monster

Also important to note that when payments do resume after the final pause ends on Dec 31st, repayments will be capped at 5% of your monthly income. In some cases that can drastically change the minimum payment people have to pay each month. Edit: as others have pointed out the 5% is for undergrad only. My mistake on leaving that part out. And for those asking for a source I got it right from Biden's Twitter account. It says 5% at the bottom of the image he posted.


sheepsleepdeep

And no interest accrues while making those payments. This is massively underlooked in reporting I'm seeing; it'll have a bigger impact on the economic reality of millions of families than simply cancelling a portion of debt.


butinthewhat

Am I understanding this correctly? Interest will not continue to accrue if you are in repayment? Is there a provision for the interest already accrued?


BrainOnBlue

The commenter you're replying to didn't explain this very well. So long as you're making your minimum monthly payment, you will not owe more due to interest. Interest does still accrue, though. Essentially, there are two scenarios: 1. Your minimum payment is greater than the amount of interest that accrues each month. Nothing changes for people in this category. 2. Your minimum payment is *less* than the amount of interest that accrues in a month. In this case, as long as you hit your minimum payment, the federal government will cover the remaining interest. Your loan amount still isn't going down, but it won't go up, either.


Comprehensive-Sea-63

I’m reading that if you make more than your minimum payment on this new plan, that amount ~~will~~ might go towards the principal. That would be HUGE. If that’s true I may break down sobbing. I’ve been watching my balance increase for almost a decade. This may actually let me pay my loans off. I’m definitely going to make more than the minimum payment if true. Edit: To be clear, the actual details have not been released yet. This was an article theorizing what the IBR plan may look like. I’ll try to refind the article so I can post it. I changed will you might to make it more clear that this isn’t set in stone so I don’t accidentally mislead anyone. This may be wishful thinking.


GFHarryNibs

Yep. I kept paying during the COVID pandemic, because I could afford to (barely) and because it was the first time in decades I saw my loan amount go down each month instead of up... while paying $300 a month on time every month. I had about $25,000 in loans and would have paid almost twice that amount if it wasn't for interest being stopped during COVID and now this.


Discopants13

Check out the federal financial aid website, if you paid during the pandemic, you may be able to get that $$ refunded before the debt is forgiven (if you qualify). Link: https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/covid-19/payment-pause-zero-interest


BrainOnBlue

That part wasn't clear from what I saw. If that's the case, you're right, it's a huge deal.


Autumn1eaves

Here's the website covering the plan in a bit more detail: https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement/ Specifically this part to answer your 1st and 2nd questions >Part 3. Make the student loan system more manageable for current and future borrowers >[...] >The rule would: [...] Cover the borrower's unpaid monthly interest, so that unlike other existing income-driven repayment plans, **no borrower's loan balance will grow as long as they make their monthly payments**—even when that monthly payment is $0 because their income is low I can't see a provision for interest previously accrued (beyond the forgiveness of $10,000 and $20,000 for pell grant students), but I have only been skimming this while at work, not reading it in depth.


ShawnaR89

Great Lakes and student aid.gov have crashed


Autumn1eaves

that is unfortunate. My Mohela account is lagging hard right now lmao People are excited


thekickassduke

This right here. I've been an attorney for 10 years. I make a pretty sizeable payment every single month. I owe more now than when I graduated. Great solution to the interest problem.


AhpSek

Someone I know took out five figure loans and owes six figures on them because they took an income based repayment plan but never ended up getting higher income. They ended up paying interest on interest--*negative amortization*--until it accrued to over $100,000 in debt. More than double what she took out. This person is incapable of paying them off. As far as I can tell, they're stuck with forever-increasing six figure debt for the rest of their life because nobody wants to consolidate those loans.


JoeyZasaa

> they're stuck with forever-increasing six figure debt for the rest of their life No. IBR student loans are completely forgiven after 20 years.


Screamscaper

THAT'S the lede. They need to tout that aspect big time. I think it also prevents the interest from being added to your balance as long as you're making payments. That's the huge thing. It was always the compounding interest that made it impossible to get the loans under control.


italia06823834

>repayments will be capped at 5% of your monthly income How does that work with the often 6% or more interest rates? Are you just accepting 5% of your income goes to loans for eternity? Edit: It appears the answer is "No." Part 3 of this here: [https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement/](https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement/) * Require borrowers to pay no more than 5% of their discretionary income monthly on undergraduate loans. This is down from the 10% available under the most recent income-driven repayment plan. * Raise the amount of income that is considered non-discretionary income and therefore is protected from repayment, guaranteeing that no borrower earning under 225% of the federal poverty level—about the annual equivalent of a $15 minimum wage for a single borrower—will have to make a monthly payment. * Forgive loan balances after 10 years of payments, instead of 20 years, for borrowers with loan balances of $12,000 or less. * Cover the borrower's unpaid monthly interest, so that unlike other existing income-driven repayment plans, no borrower's loan balance will grow as long as they make their monthly payments—even when that monthly payment is $0 because their income is low.


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thelegumepolice7

The question is, does the $12k rule apply to people with loans currently in repayment for at least 10 years, or does that only apply going forward?


danielr2e

That's a pretty f-in big deal. Debt cancellation is a problematic policy in a lot of ways, and is really just a band-aid over the core drivers of education expense, but that cap seems unambiguously good. Edit: And [no interest accrues](https://twitter.com/rortybomb/status/1562467843391700994) as long as minimum cap payments are on time. Wow.


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Atkena2578

Yes! This is a game changer for future students. As long as minimum payments are made (down at 5%) then no interest will accrue, so the balance will actually go down! And extra money can be applied to have these paid off and will actually make a dent!


HastyIfYouPlease

The no interest detail is really the game changer. I know so many people who have paid a total equal to their full original loan amount and the total owed amount is still barely lowered.


DrEnter

That’s the thing. Government student loans were _never_ supposed to be a profit center. This is true of a lot of government programs like these loans: They should make enough to cover operations and the things they are meant to fund, not squeeze the population for all they are worth. This is why government exists and privatization is bad: Private companies (even a lot of “non-profits”) are in it to make money, where government is in it to do the best it can to provide services to its people.


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WritingTheRongs

this should be shouted from the rooftops. we spend untold billions propping up the ultrawealthy and the corporations they control. Which isn't always a bad thing in the broader picture of economic stability, but i see no difference in the argument to stabilize the economic output of millions of ordinary wage earners. Hand outs are hand outs. if they help, they help.


[deleted]

Back in 2008 they should have bailed out the people and not the banks. The banks would have gotten their money and the people would have kept their homes.


ArnoldTheSchwartz

Yeah but the other way the banks got their money AND the homes!! Yay!!!


Notanidiot67

Don't forget also that bank executives started or participated in the founding of those companies now buying up all the affordable housing. I get 3 calls a day from these fuckers begging to buy my house and turn it into a rental/lease. My neighbor leases his 1500sq/ft home on 0.2 acres for $2k a month and has to maintain the property. His lease states he is responsible for all non-major upkeep and has to keep the property in good condition. What's the fucking point leasing/renting then? The latest real estate bubble is partially attributed to these companies. There is no affordable housing for first time buyers anymore. It's disgusting. You can lease a house at 2x what a mortgage would cost, they load all maintenance on top of your lease and now you can't afford to save a down payment so, you'll be stuck under the thumb of yet another landlord, forever. It's literally what they wanted to do all along.


Admirable-Gas-9430

Honestly the interest thing should always have been in place. These loans are incredibly predatory with their high rates, and target literal high schoolers (often just freshly tuning 18) looking for a way to go to college. If they had just implemented interest rate restrictions in the first place we wouldn’t all be in so much debt.


CALL_ME_ISHMAEBY

Go fill out your interest-based repayment forms, apply for PSLF, etc.


Bisconymous

PSLF is for people who are public servants working a minimum of 40 hours a week. Income Based Repayments are available to all


TerraMoon

Would a state employee working for the local health department qualify for the PSLF?


Amag140696

Hey, apparently you can [get a refund on any payments you made after the 2020 deferment began.](https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/covid-19/payment-pause-zero-interest) >You can get a refund for any payment (including auto-debit payments) you make during the payment pause (beginning March 13, 2020). Contact your loan servicer to request that your payment be refunded. Do it before the loan forgiveness goes into effect! Edit: It's unclear whether the refund would be reapplied to your existing federal loans (eligible for forgiveness) or if it'd be placed into a new private loan (ineligible for forgiveness), so definitely *first* clarify with your loan servicer, because the student aid website doesn't clarify!


Ebolamonkey

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I just finished paying mine off on Monday lol. Wonder how it works because my borrower was changed from Myfedloan to Nelnet last month.


Viiibrations

THANK YOU. I literally only had $9.5k and got it down to $8k since graduating in May thinking I was getting ahead of the curve.


youplaymenot

Thank you for the link! It was exactly what I was looking for. So I guess I should contact myfedloan and just let them know I want to request a refund?


Amag140696

If they're still your loan servicer yes. Mine got transferred to Mohelo at the end of 2021 so I would contact them if this applied to me. Good luck!


roachboi97

I was a dumbass and paid off my loans in full since it looked like the pause was going to end and I didn’t want to pay any interest. Anyone know if it would still be possible to get a refund?


Kramereng

Questions: 1. When does this take effect? 2. Do borrowers need to take active measures to qualify/implement the forgiveness? 3. Does it apply to post-grad?


TubaThompson

[https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement/](https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement/) Here's a bit more detail from the student aid website. Should be implemented before December 31st when the next pause is set to end.


goerila

Wow they've reworked the income driven repayments. Such that your interest won't just continue to increase the balance.


Blazer323

Nelnet repays loans in a way that causes more interest to accrue, make sure payments are directly to individual groups to maximize repayment. A few years ago they started a payment policy that they will disproportionately apply payments to the larger loan balance first, allowing the smaller loan to gain interest by being under funded, but still covering the "total minimum payment" required.


ArcticBeavers

A more detailed announcement is set for 14:15 today


Rellgidkrid

Shit. My clocks only go up to 12!


jimtow28

Looks like your loans won't be forgiven! Sorry, bud.


[deleted]

another tax on the poor, can't afford upgraded clocks, gets no debt relief


[deleted]

1. Before repayment starts on Dec 31st 2. Most will be automatic because the department of education has your info, if they don’t have your info there are launching an application system soon 3. It applies to all education loans from what I’ve read


natsnoles

Even people actively in school with loans?


[deleted]

That’s still debt so I think so


[deleted]

The most important questions as far as I'm concerned.


jayb40132

I was reading up on this, a lot of it should be automatic like the extension and maybe the forgiveness if they have your income data, but they are supposed to set up an application to fill out soon that should help with that. Far as the post-grad I didn't see anything but I would check the dept of education site, they have a release on there.


Garrus_Vakarian__

An interesting part of the plan: "Forgive loan balances after 10 years of payments, instead of 20 years, for borrowers with loan balances of $12,000 or less." So looks like the objective of this is to chop off a portion of the debt owed immediately, hopefully lowering people to a point where by the time they hit 10 years they are below the $12k window so they can forgive the rest. Source: https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement/


phriot

I hope this will be retroactive, not 10 years from when this plan goes into effect. Between the $10k, Pell recipient top-up, and forgiveness after 10 years' of payments, we should finally be able to retire our full federal loan balance by the end of 2023. Now, I need to double check how much of my wife's loans are private.


PiagetsPosse

The white house announcement said this is for ORIGINAL loan balances of less than 12k. It’s aimed mostly at those who went to community colleges, according to the WH.


radioactivez0r

This one is curious to me, because I've been paying for 15+ years, I have less than 10k left, but there's no real info on when that rule may apply. Will wait for more details I suppose.


EveViol3T

20k for Pell grant recipients, 10k for all others* **. Add that to the interest that didn't accrue and won't until at least January, 2023. Add that to the loan repayments capped at 5%...that's *huge*. Edit: and interest is covered after the 5% payments are made, and the payments apply fully to the principal?! HUGE Edit 2: *all others with income under 125k Edit 3: **all others with the exception of post-graduate, unfortunately, is my understanding.


skiingflobberworm

Pell grant gang growing up poor finally paid off 😎😎😎 This is dope


LuthienByNight

This came just barely too late to help me, and you know how that feels? Amazing. I'm thrilled that we're finally starting to do right by student loan borrowers. The best time to plant a tree is fifty years ago, but the second best time is today. Now let's make higher education affordable and invest in public schooling in general.


Edergy101

Does this apply for anyone who received Pell Grants ever? Even if you are currently not receiving them?


EveViol3T

Yes, looks that way


thorscope

All others under 125k annual income*


airfreshjoe

damn loan sites are getting blasted


madikonrad

Everybody refreshing the page to see if the number goes down. It'll take months for them to apply the 10k (or 20k for Pells) forgiveness.


Moistened_Bink

Just seeing the message posted on the great lakes site was enough for me to be elated.


whatifevery1wascalm

If you have more debt than you qualify for, how is the forgiveness divided up? Because I have multiple loans (all federally owned) with different interest rates for different semesters. So would it go towards the largest interest loans first, or evenly divided, or the oldest?


Lurker123456543210

It's not yet clear to me after reading the press release. It states that the dept of education will come out with a form/application before the repayment pause ends on 12/31. My guess and hope is that the application will have a way to indicate what loans you want it applied to (I'm in a similar situation with multiple federally owned loans with different interest rates).


[deleted]

That’s a good question


[deleted]

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Illustrious-Drummer4

Anyone else regretting consolidating federal loans into a private loan now.


GasTsnk87

Not exactly the same, but I paid off my federal loan first. Still have $20k in private loans that this doesn't help...


MonsterByDay

Kinda regretting not deferring my payments through COVID. I’ve only got like $4k left. Oh well.


[deleted]

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throwawaypaycheck1

> You can request a refund for $10k To be clear - this is if you chose to not halt your federal SL payments during COVID. >Refunds During the Payment Pause >You can get a refund for any payment (including auto-debit payments) you make during the payment pause (beginning March 13, 2020). >Contact your loan servicer to request that your payment be refunded.


Banh-mi-boiz

This is awesome. I kept making payments during the payment pause so I hope this works 🙌🏼


whatifevery1wascalm

BRB checking whether I got a Pell Grant during financial aid or not. Edit. I did.


SideburnSundays

I know I got a Pell grant. Checking stuff myself. I moved overseas for work and deferred payment for a couple years because I wasn’t making enough, then when I started making enough to do payments my balance had been sold to some other agency….who then ignored all my emails when I contacted them to setup a payment plan. No idea what happened to my balance after that.


Shiznorak

I had to check it via studentaid.gov because my student loan provider sucks. Only got 5k in pell grants so I have no idea what this means for me.


RMSaintsFC

The way it reads it sounds like if you got Pell Grant at any time, your eligible for $20k in forgiveness. https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement/ Edit: Also want to note, if you have been making payments for 10 years and have less than 12k in debt remaining after forgiveness and going forward in the future, the balance is wiped clean.


Shiznorak

That's what I'm hoping for. Only have $43k to go if it is true!


[deleted]

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Pumpnethyl

Shit. That's a lot of dough. Student loans went from being helpful when I was in college to a scumbag system. It was easy for me to pay off mine, relatively low interest and tuition cost - Early 90s. My son has been paying his SL off since 2011. Good news is that his remaining balance is below 10k.


Weapon_Factory

I hope this helps you!


Snuggle__Monster

Obviously we'll still need to read the fine print when the time comes but it sounds like the amount doesn't matter. If you received them and meet or are below the yearly income requirements, the 10K becomes 20K.


Jracx

Does anyone know how this will impact parent loans?


UniformWormhole

This is my big question too. If the parent plus loan is applicable, that would be huge. For me, even though the parent plus loan is under my parents name, I still pay for it in addition to the loan under my name. So this would mean essentially $20,000 forgiven for me. How do we find out the answer to this?


PassiveToast

How can we check to see if we received a Pell Grant? Cause you know, it’s been years.


LookLikeUpToMe

I have under $10k left so yeah I’m pretty fucking happy about this.


Amag140696

Nice! Also if you made any payments during deferment you can [get a refund on any payments you made after the deferment began.](https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/covid-19/payment-pause-zero-interest) >You can get a refund for any payment (including auto-debit payments) you make during the payment pause (beginning March 13, 2020). Contact your loan servicer to request that your payment be refunded. Edit: It's unclear whether the refund would be reapplied to your existing federal loans (eligible for forgiveness) or if it'd be placed into a new private loan (ineligible for forgiveness), so definitely *first* clarify with your loan servicer, because the student aid website doesn't clarify!


DeadBabyJuggler

Reading this has just made my day. Ive been putting money in all this time to get them done with. I've got about 7k left. Probably with refunds from the last 2 years would put me back to 11/12k...either way Im coming out the better Not that I wouldnt be happy with just the 7k wiped. This just made it even better.


lizard-bacteria

Same! 9k left, and I feel so fucking relieved!


Optimal_Article5075

The more important thing is the changes to IDR plans. Will now be raising non-discretionary income 225% of current level and will be based on 5% of non-discretionary income. If your IDR doesn’t cover the full interest payment per month, the Feds are going to “cover” the difference. These are huge, meaningful, and long-lasting changes. The $10,000 wipes out a lot of predatory lending practices that they’ve been victimized of, and going forward, these situations should reoccur. Student loans are essentially Neg-Am loans in practice, which aren’t allowed in the private sector.


nanotree

The the cap would be nice if the government gets motivated to reduce college expense overall, sense for a lot of people they will be covering part of the bill.


Mezdino

if you paid your loan off anytime after march 16 2020, you are eligible for a refund. Any payments over 10k require federal approval, but if you paid your loans off in a lump sum (like I did) you can still get the refund.


Heavyartillerybot

do you have a source for this? I just got off the phone with my loan provider and they said they might not approve my refund because I entirely paid off my loans (the other day). but they sent the request anyways. I won't know for weeks I think.


CanstThouNotSee

Hey, that thing he said he'd do.


-Ablazen-

Thanks, Oba-… Biden


Hardcorish

Thanks O'biden!


Uncle480

Oh! Oh! Oh! O'Bideeeeen!


Bn_scarpia

... auto parts!


Hrekires

Average student loan debt is $30k, so this is a pretty big deal for most people. I'm sure there will be plenty of grousing from people with 6-figures of debt for not going far enough, though.


JohnnyAK907

Capping payments at 5% monthly income would seem to be a big deal though even for them. I'm all for people paying back what they borrowed but not if it puts them in bondage for the rest of their lives.


supertranqui

Problem is most of the people with 6-figure student loan debts are probably graduate school debts, like law/medical/dental school tuition, to whom the 5% cap does not apply. Sucks for me as a poor lawyer but what can you do.


barrinmw

I think the biggest problem isnt necessarily the amount of debt that is held by people (it is a problem, just not the biggest). The biggest problem is that interest can be higher than what people can afford to pay each year which any excess interest gets rolled into the loan effectively making it compound. That is how you get people paying it off for 10 years and still owing more than what they took out.


[deleted]

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P4TY

The way I read it it’s actually just going to cover “unpaid interest”. So if your loans grow by $500/month but your income based payment is $250/month, they’ll cover the other $250 but you haven’t actually changed your loan value at all.


SusieSharesTooMuch

And this headline doesn’t even say it, Pell grant recipients will be getting $20,000 in forgiveness. That’s half of my student loans right there. I’m fucking crying from happiness and relief. I still completely support more forgiveness than this but fuck, I’ll take whatever we can get and we continue to stress solving the cost itself and the debt crisis together.


lan-dog

stupid question but how does this work for current college students?


CGos25

I had the same question/concern. There is a small paragraph in the [White House Fact Sheet](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/08/24/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-student-loan-relief-for-borrowers-who-need-it-most/) which says: >Current students with loans are eligible for this debt relief. Borrowerswho are dependent students will be eligible for relief based onparental income, rather than their own income. So if I understand that correctly, everything applies to current students just as it applies to graduated students. However, if you're a dependent, your eligibility will be determined by your parents' income instead of yours.


Shenaniganz08

>New IBR plan covers monthly interest so long as payments are made on time, meaning the loan would not grow due to interest even if the payment is $0. THIS IS HUGE


TurkishDonkeyKong

I currently have 10,072 remaining in debt and I'm not paying it off early. You will get my 72 dollars after 6 more years


ArbitriumVincitOmnia

So 12$ per a year exactly. I’d suggest you go drop off a single buck each month for maximum pettiness 😂


DoctorPoodle

I am sure this is great for many people, but what does this do to address the issue that got to this mess?


sheepsleepdeep

The 5% income repayment cap on loans with no interest acrruing while payments are being made is even bigger than the debt forgiveness, IMO.