/r/StudentLoans
/r/StudentLoans: Reddit's hub for advice, articles, and general discussion about getting and repaying student loans.
Welcome to /r/StudentLoans, the largest and oldest reddit community for discussion, information, and assistance related to the topic of student loan debt. Please feel free to join the conversation, discuss experiences, or ask for help.
Rules:
1) No referral links/codes. Do not offer or ask for referral codes. Do not post your link/code here. Do not link to another site or subreddit where you have posted your referral link/code.
2) No spam, marketing, market research, or self-promotion. Even without referral links, advertising another site where you can get financial benefit (from ads, sales, or otherwise) is not allowed. This also includes market research and focus group-style testing of products and services. If you have good advice to share, then copy it here in full so that the community can benefit. (Exceptions may be made at the mods' discretion for bona fide non-profit groups and other particularly helpful resources.)
3) No crowdfunding. Do not request funding or co-signing of your debt. Do not offer to pay or co-sign another's debt here, regardless of method. This community is for advice and discussion, not to facilitate transfer of money.
4) No advocating default. As an advice community, our primary goal is helping people work to improve their situation through legal means, including honoring their valid contracts. Sometimes default is unavoidable, in which case we'll provide support and advice for managing it, but this is not the place to advocate intentional default or get advice about defaulting on purpose.
5) Do not post private details or direct contact information for loan servicer employees, ED employees, or anyone else that's not officially available.
6) Before posting any kind of survey, call for interviews, or request for personal information, get moderator approval. We'll want to know: a) who you are, b) what company/group/school you're with, c) what the purpose of the data collection is, d) how you'll protect respondents' privacy, and e) how the data collected will benefit the /r/StudentLoans community. Bona fide journalists, researchers, and non-profits are more likely to be approved; for-profit companies will be viewed more skeptically.
7) Comply with the principles of reddiquette and obey the site-wide rules. Mods will remove rude, offensive, unhelpful, off-topic, trollish, law-breaking, and other inappropriate content.
8) Users claiming to be professionals must be verified by the mods. Full explanation of this rule and the verification process here..
NOTES: The goal is to be unbiased and clear with news and information pertaining to student loans. Mods will be vigilant in ensuring personal opinion doesn't cloud the facts. While every attempt will be made by the mods to ensure the information provided and opinions voiced will be relevant and accurate, you should ALWAYS read the fine print for any loan you are considering.
You should never have to pay for help with your student loans. There isn't a person or entity on the planet that can get you a better deal, or access to a benefit or program, that you can't get yourself, for free, by working directly through your loan holder.
Most of the knowledge-base here is related to the United States. Questions from all around the world are welcome, but we suggest also asking in subreddits related to your school or nation/region if you don't get a prompt response here.
Useful links:
Subreddit specific links: - /r/personalfinance - /r/financialaid - /r/debtfree
/r/StudentLoans
I’ll try to keep this clear and concise as possible. I graduated about 5 years ago. During this time I was under the impression that the student loans were being taken care of by a generous family member. Turns out it has not lol. After months of fighting and gauging where I was at, I was finally able to access my student loan accounts to see where I’m at…
I’m about 80k in debt altogether collectively with the loans accumulated. I live on my own I make about 60k a year. I just feel like with my current living situation and lifestyle, I have no idea where to start or begin. I read all these articles and nothing makes sense about how I can stay within my limited current spending habits as it is while also making payments.
I feel really lost and there’s not much of guidance I can turn to just for a semblance of help. If anyone could provide some help or a sense of direction I can take this would be so much appreciated.
I am still going to work with a CPA/Tax expert but wanted to ask here also. We are getting married next weekend, which means in the eyes of the IRS, we have been married all of 2024. My student loans are currently caught up in SAVE and frozen. His were forgiven early this year. Do we file taxes as 'married - filing jointly' or 'married - filing separately'? As I understand it, student loans are one of the only reasons to file separately.
I just graduated in December 2024 in 3 1/2 years and have one subsidized loan worth around $4500 from freshman year. I have enough money to pay the full amount but was trying to figure out the best option. I have a high yield savings (though the rates keep dropping) currently at 3.9% APY. I’m trying to figure out if in my loan will gain interest during the 6 month grace period and if it would be smarter to leave the money in my savings account gaining interest until closer to the end of the grace period.
Nelnet is my provider. Have $20K in loans. I've never had payments restart, as I've always just gone back to school part time over the years. My average interest rate is only 4.5% across all the loans, none consolidated.
Currently on SAVE, but confused on whether I should switch now or wait until Trump gets in and see if they create a new plan?
I was going to switch to IBR as it makes sense for me and my current income, but dunno. I'm only making about $30K a year gross.
Plus, Nelnet had my loans at $231 a month repayment, then I check today and it is $40!! How the heck am I supposed to work it into my budget if it keeps flip flopping.
I liked Biden, but he really screwed us on this one.
PAYE Not Available?
I went to studentaid.gov to start the application for the PAYE repayment plan, but I can’t seem to find the option available. I was on that plan before I switched to SAVE, so I assumed it would still be an option for me. Did applications really just start today?
Has anyone else encountered this problem?
I went to studentaid.gov to apply for the PAYE repayment plan, but it's still not an option for me, which I know it is as I was on that plan before switching to SAVE. I thought applications began today.
Is anyone else having this issue?
Hi everyone,
I’m looking for some guidance as I plan my path to law school and try to make sense of my financial situation. Here’s a breakdown: • I have about $63K+ in student loan debt from undergrad. • My Student Aid Index (SAI) is -1500, and FAFSA shows I qualify for federal direct loans up to $12,500. • I’m considering taking a year to get my personal finances in order and applying to Florida A&M University (FAMU) for Fall 2026. FAMU is appealing because it’s affordable, and moving isn’t really an option for me. • I have a 3.7 GPA and am aiming for at least a 160 LSAT score, which I think would make me a strong candidate for FAMU. • If FAMU doesn’t work out, I’m also applying to a few online JD programs like at Syracuse or St. Mary’s.
My main concern is debt and scholarships. Even with good scholarships, I’m wondering how much debt I’d still end up with. Would it be smarter to delay law school another year to save up more money, or would scholarships make a significant enough difference to justify starting sooner? What happens if a scholarship I receive for my first year isn’t renewed for my second or third year? How would I pay for those years? Do law schools offer work-study programs or other ways to help manage costs while in school?
Any advice on navigating scholarships, FAFSA, or keeping debt manageable, all welcomed. TIA
I’m currently on the SAVE payment plan and prior to that my loans had also been in forbearance since graduating in 2022. I make almost $80,000 and work at a non profit eligible for forgiveness after 10 years. I had saved $40,000 to put towards loans, but after the the possibilities opened of the save program payments and loan forgiveness I put it towards a house down payment. My mortgage is $1320 and SAVE payments were about $300. Now that save is dead I’m looking at the federal student aid website it looks like my standard payment for student loans would be $1800, which with my mortgage would consume about 75% of my take home monthly income. I applied for PSLF but haven’t been approved for the program and I’m skeptical of it even happening at this point. I have $25,000 saved up and honestly am contemplating selling my home and putting everything I have towards the principal to get it down. My question is should I look to refinance and be this aggressive? Or should I try to get on another IDR plan and hope that things work out as I start to watch interest accrue? Thank you for any advice
I am graduating this May and will have roughly 130,000 in private loans. The rates are 12-13% and one with 4%. How screwed am I and the best way to pay these off so I don’t get ruined later in life.
My husband and I have been making aggressive payments in the SAVE program for the last year, not even realizing what SAVE was or that we were not accruing interest due to the litigation. We are expected to pay off the remainder in the next few months. My question is, do we stay in SAVE? If we pay off all our loan balance in the next few months, are we going to owe for that interest that was not accruing once this litigation is settled ? I.e. like “back pay” or something?? I want to feel confident that when we make our last payment, it’s done forever. I don’t want SAVE to screw us.
Just got an email early this morning saying "Your Auto Pay Payment of x will be pulled from your account ending x on 12/13/2024."...
Today is 12/15... thank you for reminding me about my autopayment that was scheduled for 2 days ago... wtf.
"Under the College Cost Reduction Act, federal student loan repayment options would be narrowed down to just two: a Standard plan, and a new IDR plan called the “Repayment Assistance Plan.” This new plan would be based on income just like existing IDR plans, and would use a formula similar to the PAYE and REPAYE plans. However, it would eliminate student loan forgiveness after 20 or 25 years in repayment. Instead, borrowers would only qualify for loan forgiveness once they have repaid “the total amount of principal and interest that the borrower would have repaid under a standard repayment plan.” Some lower-income borrowers or those with high balances may never pay that amount, which could lead to some people being trapped in debt for their entire lives. Under the current version of the bill, the changes would apply to “All loans made... on or after July 1, 2024.” This suggests that borrowers already in repayment would be able to maintain access to existing IDR plans."
I got accepted into a science program at SAIT and might need to take out student loans even though I really don’t want to and am trying to avoid it at all costs. Does anyone have any experience with student loans/ is it hard to pay it back??? I am trying to avoid it because I don’t want to be in debt
Good morning everyone.
Ive been trying to find a private loan because my federal grant and loans aren’t enough for school. But I have a low credit score (540s) and I have no co-signer. The only job I have will be a on campus work study job so I really don’t have income to support my case. Are there any options out there for me? Ive tried the most common lenders out there and they’ve all said no so those aren’t an option either
Loan Status: Awaiting Form Administrative Forbearance-Ends 04/30/2025
Fun times. Used to be 1/31/2025 and they extended it another 3 months overnight. Going to be an interesting week to see if they do, in fact, bring back the PAYE and ICR programs. And to see if the other servicers will ever begin to process the IDR applications. And of course, once we get Trump in office, if he and his team does away with this forbearance.
Seems like when they announced the 6 month extension, no servicers actually moved it 6 months when it was announced in October. Looks like they finally did so over the weekend. Math adds up there.
I currently have an application processing and am in forbearance. However it says my forbearance in January, since it’s been 60 days. Will they put me into another forbearance after that?!
My wife and I both have student loans (federal and private) but she has Parent Plus Loans.
When her and her parents took them out… they had no clue what they were doing and didn’t realize what it all entails.
When they took out the PPL her parents didn’t make the best of money but now they are much better off where our minimum payment on those loans is just over $1,000 / month.
I can’t even stomach the idea that we’re trying to figure out how to pay this once they come out of forbearance because they make more than us.
I am new to the parent plus loan research since mine aren’t PPL. So what do we do?
I’ve seen stuff about a PPL loop hole? Should we refinance into our name once the forbearance is over??
Would really love to not pay $1k / month at the moment..
Update on post: the total loan about is around 98k and they now make $200k per year combined. Average interest rate is 7% across all loans.
Updating post again: I get the LEGALLY these loans are in her dad’s name but the way it was explained to them was that they’d be her loans and that was the agreement they had set. MORALLY AND ETHICALLY they are her loans.
I didn't even mean to take this loan. When I was a freshman in college, I had to do a simulation on borrowing money because the school asked me too. I did not want to take a loan but now I have it, I have to be fully responsible for what my school did to me. I thought my financial aid was going away if I didn't do it. I was so stupid! STUPID! STUPID! I can't even make an account on the borrower's website so I can't even pay even if I wanted to! I'm so angry and I only have myself to blame. I'm so angry with myself. I didn't have anyone to go over it with me. I'm so angry. I took a break for a semester and now that I can't find work, I can't pay anything back. I deserved this. I'm so stupid.
Hi everyone. I’ve got about $16k left in loans. I’ve been making the minimum payments.
I’ve got enough money in my HYSA to pay them all off and be done with them (and still have an emergency fund). But was waiting to see what would happen with Biden’s loan forgiveness.
With Trump coming into office, I doubt there will be any type of loan forgiveness. I haven’t heard a plans for student loans at all, but wouldn’t be surprised if there was some kind of plan that would actually make loans harder to pay off. So I’m thinking it makes sense to just pay off the lump sum and not have to worry about it.
Currently, my HYSA is at 4.5% (4.62% for the year), and my loans vary: 3.61%, 3.61%, 3.61%, 4.41%, and 4.20%
Do you think I should just pay them off? Or keep making payments and let the money outgrow the loans? Or just pay off the 4%+ ones?
Thanks for any thoughts.
So, I just got approved for TOD discharge on Monday! Over 100k taken off, SSI route. My question is, how will this impact credit score, and how long to show on credit report?
So I saw in this feed that IDR applications were reopening so I had to check it out and it was! So I applied right away opting to have the lowest monthly payment since I’m broke ash 😭. Compared to other people on here, my loans are pretty low. But how long do I have to wait till I hear something back? How would this work?
I am going to assume that when the reopen PAYE it will come with all the same timing restrictions as before? as in no loan balance before 10/1/2007?
Asking bc I’m one of those unlucky borrowers who took out their first loan in Sept 2007. I was 3 years from PSLF forgiveness when they switched me from REPAYE to SAVE. Trying to decide whether to switch to IBR to at least make progress on my loans (feeling realllly uncertain about the buyback option sticking around).
Should I have gotten some kind of notice that this was coming? My student loans are around 35k all together and have been on deferment for around 3 years. It wouldve been nice to get some kind of official alert that this was happening so Id have some time to prepare myself. No phone calls, emails, nothing in the mail NOTHING! I dont even know when payments are supposed to resume or if they did already. The account was mad by my parents and they had all the log in information but they have both since passed away. I dont even know if they have my phone number, current address or anything like that on file because it was all done by my parents. Obviously its tied to my SSN but last time I tried logging into it using my parents credentials it said that account doesnt exist. Tried my own credentials that Ive used for everything for years and same thing says an account doesnt exist. WTF is going on and what do I do?
Hello, this is my first time taking out a loan for school and didn't realize you need to do a MPN on top of your FASFA so I submitted it today as well as completed the counseling and was just wondering if it's to late to receive a loan for winter quarter?
Hi everyone,
I'm looking for some advice/recommendations. I have around $79,000 in loans, 2 with Sallie Mae and 2 federal subsidized SM Loan 1: $32,300 @ 9% variable Sm Loan 2: $38,300@ 11.75% variable Fed 1: $3,385 @ 3.73% fixed Fed 2: $5,500@ 2.75 % fixed
Short version: I'm asking for help because I would like to refinance for 1 loan with a fixed rate. Preferably for everything but I understand that leaving the federal alone with such a low rate would be ideal.
I need recommendations about reputable companies to refinance with and if I should refinance the full amount or just the private loans
Long version: I just graduated and will be entering deferment with Sallie mae soon. I know with Sallie Mae I have 6 month deferment period, as far as federal, I don't know. Currently, the plan that was selected for Sallie Mae, was in school fixed repayment, so I was only required to paid 25 a month. I did this for about a 2 years while in school as paying more wasn't an avaliable option and of course this meants i have a chuck of just unpaid intrest/fees that accumulated. As of may 2023 i was able to start paying around 300 on each Loan however my intrest is so high, what i would pay would only cover the intrest of that month depending on the rate at the time. Only recent ly have I been able to up that to 400 on each, covering the intrest and some change.
I understand this seems stupid and I should have been knocking out the Fed loans but because they have such a low interest rate, and because they were subsidized and not accumulating interest while in school I haven't touched them, I have been trying to get the intrest for Sallie Mae knocked out to finally start getting to the principal. Well that hasn't been the case as I feel like I haven't made a dent. Now with me graduating and the deferment period starting, my stupidity is catching up to me.
I know interest rate are fluctuating and will continue to move as the president changes in January so I will be watching and trying to pick the best time for the best rate as time goes on within my deferment period.
TIA for any help or advice!
Do we go back on ICR?
Hopefully this isn’t a dumb question.
I’m in a masters program and my repayment start date for my loan is 2028, so $0 is due right now. Interest keeps accruing and I’d like to pay the minimum monthly payment to keep it down.
But there’s nowhere I can see a monthly payment amount on Aidvantage.
Does it matter how much I pay as long as I pay something? I already have over $200 of interest accrued and this was my first semester, so I’m hoping to at least put a few dollars down a month to keep it manageable in the future.
Thank you!
Has anyone gotten their interest removed from their student loans that accrued AFTER the 180 days from when your loans were initially put in forbearance? Mine keeps accruing interest and it’s been well over a year of being in forbearance.
I currently have $20,800 in student loans and I just received an email from Nelnet saying my first payment is due tomorrow.
For some reason it would not let me apply for the SAVE plan until today so I submitted an application a few hours ago and am waiting for an approval.
I am unable to make my payment right now due to not being able to secure a job despite applying since graduation, so I’m kinda panicking and am just overall lost with the situation😭 Will this affect anything since I won’t be able to make the payment tomorrow?
I will also be planning to go to grad school next September and may possibly take out another 20k loan for that so would this affect my loan application too? Thanks for any help!!
I iust graduated with my EdS this week. I took out $6,500, so obviously, I'm not going to go for another round of PSLF (I has my undergrad and masters loans forgiven in 2021). I am at a school that qualifies for teacher loan forgiveness, and have been there for almost 20 years. I'll call Nelnet next week, but thought I'd see if anyone knows. Do I need to wait at all before applying for TLF? I'm obviously concerned about the future of Dept of Ed and how that'll affect things. If I could knock off $5,000 of $6,500 that'll make my 2025 be a lot better.