After the longest student loan repayment pause in history, the federal Administration extended the pause yet another time through June 30 2023, with payments resuming after litigation is resolved.
Americans earning under $125,000 will see $10,000 of their student loan debt forgiven, according to the August 2022 announcement by the administration.
While the relief package is expected to face legal challenges, it pays to get information directly from the policy makers.
In addition, borrowers who are employed by non-profits, the military, or federal, state, Tribal, or local government may be eligible to have all of their student loans forgiven through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program.
This is because of time-limited changes that waive certain eligibility criteria in the PSLF program. These temporary changes expire on October 31, 2022. For more information on eligibility and requirements, go to PSLF.gov.
It’s not too early to take steps in preparation for the relief programs to end. Borrowers should be ready to make student loan payments, even as policy makers discuss further extensions in the face of an increased number of borrowers becoming delinquent or defaulting on their loans.
Listed here are steps to move forward as protections end.
Take Inventory
How’s your memory in the midst of the longest payment freeze of federal student debt in history? As a first step, take the time to document how much you owe and who to contact about student loan balances.
To get current loan balances, log onto the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). The portal will display how much you borrowed, the type of each loan and interest rate, payment history, and the current loan servicer for each loan.
For private student loan information, jog your memory with your credit report, which tracks current and past credit obligations, including student loans. AnnualCreditReport.com provides borrowers with a free report from the three main credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
These resources are also useful to track current student loan servicers – the organizations that handle payment and administration of your debt.
Track Your Interest Rates
Student loan interest rates vary depending on the loan type and other terms such as the date the funds were first disbursed to you. Again, NSLDS is the go-to resource to discover the interest rates of your federal student loans.
To track interest rates on private student debt, contact each lender for fixed and variable interest rates.
Look at Affordability of Payments
After the lengthy payment pause ends in June 2023, which is the latest deadline extension, consider overall affordability. Based on your current monthly income and expenses, you might find that resuming payments for federal student loans will stress your budget.
Explore options to lower monthly payments by switching to an income-driven repayment plan.
Private student loan lenders typically don’t offer income-driven plans, but they might offer alternative repayment plans on a case-by-case basis.
Loan forgiveness might be an option. In the last few months, the Department of Education overhauled the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. Teachers, nurses, first responders, service members, those working in nonprofit hospitals and other nonprofit and public service workers can potentially have their student loans forgiven
Explore whether you can take advantage of the changes to the public servant loan forgiveness program.
See if Loan Consolidation is Possible
Again, if affordability is an issue, consolidating your student loans sets you up with a single monthly payment.
For most borrowers, consolidation lengthens the repayment period, so your cost of borrowing will actually be higher since you will likely pay more interest over the long run.
This option will depend on your specific financial picture, so be sure to research all the pros and cons of loan consolidation.
First published by Greenpath.com
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