I submitted the following in early July:

• Direct Consolidation Loan Application (still in review)

• Income-Driven Repayment Save Plan (still in review)

I’m aware that courts have halted the save plan and it will likely not get resolved but how do you proceed in the meantime?

According to Mohela I have the standard payment coming up in December, which I just can’t afford.

Since the consolidation application is still pending and I automatically enrolled in forbearance? Doesn’t seem like it.

I can’t seem to apply for the standard IBR plan because my consolidation application is still pending.

Is there anything I can do to lower my payment that’s coming up in about a month?

Thanks in advance!!

I want to get rid of my student loan ASAP. I have $6203.51 (@ 5.28%). I have $15,065 in savings and $897 in checking. My monthly take home is roughly $4371.54, I pay roughly $1955.22 in expenses each week. I was thinking about just taking the rest out of my savings and just paying off the loan. What do you all think? I still owe my parents $20,000 but that has no interest. What do we think? I want to get rid of this before Jan 20 for obvious reasons.

I have over 100k in loans. Some are parent plus, I’m stuck in the parent plus loophole right now and unable to do my final consolidation. I don’t work and don’t plan to due to medical issues. If I file taxes separately from my husband will I have to make SL payments if I show zero taxable income? Thanks.

hi i just started college and i have immigrant parents so i have to figure out how to get financial aid on my own. I didnt even know what a subsidized loan and a unsubsidized loan was i just said yes to whatever due to how stressed i was from figuring this on my own. I later received checks in the mail from my school and im assuming those were the loans they gave me but i dont really need this money and dont wanna owe any unnecessary money. Is there any way i can cancel this money and only keep the money i need for my classes to be paid for? ty plz be nice i have no idea what im doing lol

Hello!

Just graduated in may so I’m new to figuring out student loan stuff. I had discover, then got transferred to Firstmark. All four of the loans I took out are there and look correct. On Studentaid, it’s saying I owe edfinancial too, but a completely different number. Firstmark says $67,000 while Ed says $27,000. Is there a way my loans were split? If so, how is it possible that my loans are that high when the highest loan I took out for a school year was $19,000? I contacted Ed and they seemed pretty confused on my question and didn’t really know how to help. I'm stressed if they're split bc that would mean my monthly payments would be around $1100....

Do I now owe two different servicers? I never went through Ed for anything, only discover. What’s also weird is that it doesn’t say anything about my Firstmark loans on my studentaid account? I have no idea what’s going on and I can’t seem to describe it better for the representatives. Any and all help would be so greatly appreciated!!

I have $13,900 in students loans and I would appreciate some tips on how to pay it off as soon as possible. I am a recent grad, job that pays a lil over 73k, bills are standard, live on my own, no kids or pets.

Hello,

I am a physician (3rd year as an attending) who has been doing the PSLF since 2018.

I was initially on REPAYE and was automatically enrolled into SAVE in 2024 under the Biden admin.

My loan amount is $323k (some undergrad and all medical school loans, all federal loans) and my adjusted gross income was $327k on my last tax return. I work for an academic center that is nonprofit and qualifies for PSLF.

I did the FSA loan simulator, and I would only qualify for SAVE with regard to IDR plans that would qualify for PSLF.

I don’t qualify for IBR or PAYE per the simulator and it even says ineligible for the standard repayment plan (which I do not quite understand)

We have no idea what the future holds for IDR plans that were not created via congress other than the certainty that SAVE is toast.

If they allow us to go back to REPAYE there isn’t much of a question here, but my fear is they will declare all IDR plans except IBR invalid (and I don’t qualify for IBR based on income)

Pending the ruling by the 8th circuit court, would I be better off to go private practice for a higher salary and aggressively pay off my debt?

$60k, done, and done....I used to drink whisky in sorrow and emotional damage (💀) everytime I logged on to that dreaded site. Now I'm free, navient can suck an egg whole 🥚. Thanks for listening 🤣🧘🏽‍♂️

Has anyone else experienced this? I'm on the paye plan and have been paying on my loans monthly. My recent date was the beginning of November so I reapplied to stay on Paye. A couple days ago I was placed on forbearance and then today received a email saying my recert date has been pushed back a year. I'm confused why I was placed on forbearance as I am not on the save plan. Plan to call them but wondering if anyone has any insight

I received a letter in the mail from Nelnet that said you may have over paid on your loan, but I haven't ever had a Nelnet loan. It's only been fed loan, navient, salliemae aidvantage. Has anyone else gotten that letter? I logged into my student aid . Gov acct and it shows what I already know. My servicers are through aidvantage.

I'm going to be graduating in a few months and have only taken out subsidized loans, I was wondering how I pay back everything at once. When I try to go through their menu options on FAFSA's website it only shows me loan repayment options but they show they'll take 10 years and end up charging another extra $6k in interest. Also does anyone know how to see how long the grace period is, because when I check on mine it says "payment due: " and the date is 2 years after I graduate. Thank you for any and all help!

So if you're on SAVE and the one-time adjustment puts you over the minimum # of payments, does that mean the loan is forgiven?

Someone I know is in SAVE and has a few more payments recorded than required for forgiveness. Is the forbearance keeping that from happening? Would switching to the other IBR plan allow him to have the payment count apply there and hopefully be forgiven for having met the required number? And finally, it's not possible to switch over right now, is it? He really wants to get this finished before the new administration does whatever they're going to do.

I know we are in a weird place right now, but I’m kind of panicking extra hard. I have six figure graduate student loans I’ve been paying for ten years, and my balance has increased around $80k in interest. I didn’t apply for SAVE because I didn’t want to recertify my income until I had to (my income rose pretty substantially since the last time I recertified), which would be in January. I’m on IBR. I’ve seen talks of people guessing that if you were already on SAVE you may get to keep it. Is there any chance in hell I’ll be able to switch?? If not, I might fake my own death.

Wife was pregnant and ended up going a couple of weeks early on my recertification deadline. I thought I had until the 12th to submit and have missed the deadline by 2 days. How screwed am I?

I was already planning to pay for my student loans in full before my grace period ended, but that was before the election results. I have student loans via EdFinancial and am a little confused as I graduated in June so my grace period should end in December, but I see that I have a $0 amount due next week. I know that the amount is $0, but I'm confused as there being a November due date. Unfortunately, I currently do not have a job, but am receiving unemployment, but considering election results I just am not fully sure if I should still fully pay my student loans now or do monthly payments and keep as much savings as I can first.

Direct Subsidized Loan: $5500, HYSA: About $25k

Basically title. I have been on SAVE since it was possible for me to be, since my post-graduation forbearance ended last December. I’m seeing everyone trying to switch over to IBR now and I got a notification today from AidVantage that my forbearance on SAVE is ending in 38 days, which I’m guessing has something to do with the ongoing litigation? (Did anyone else get a similar notification?) Basically, is it worth it to try to stay on SAVE, and why is everyone trying to switch right now? Is there a chance that those of us who have been on it won’t be kicked off even if it’s overturned and new people can no longer get on it?

I just got an email today from Aidvantage saying I now have until December, 2025 to recertify because of the ongoing legal challenges with the SAVE plan. I'm currently on administrative forebearance with 266 payments made towards forgiveness. Anyone else close to their payoff date receive a similar notice? Wondering if I should just keep sitting and waiting on forebearance or make any payments since I'm so close to the end.

ETA I have both graduate and undergraduate loans

I’m in the alternative SAVE plan with a 10 year standard payment of $900 per month. I haven’t started making payments yet because it’s in administrative forbearance till February so the clock is still at 10 years to go. I just received an email from Aidvantage stating my payment is changing to $3800 per month for 23 months which will pay the loan off. Holy cow batman why do I need to pay it off in 23 months now? I didn’t change anything. Has anyone else received this crazy payment change email?

I want to get rid of my student loan ASAP. I have $6203.51 (@ 5.28%). I have $15,065 in savings and $897 in checking. My monthly take home is roughly $4371.54, I pay roughly $1955.22 in expenses each week. I was thinking about just taking the rest out of my savings and just paying off the loan. What do you all think? I still owe my parents $20,000 but that has no interest. What do we think?

Hello,

I’m currently a senior in undergraduate, and was wondering about taking out a private loan. I have at hold on my student account of about $1800 from some summer classes I took ( which I now know I should not have). Talked to financial aid and they said the only way I can pay it at this point is get a private loan. I haven’t had any loans before so I’m not sure of the process, but I know I can absolutely pay it off by the beginning next year—I just need it now to register for classes. Is it that big of a deal to get the loan even though it’s a small amount that I can pay off quickly?

I had applied for SAVE and was accepted before everything got blocked. I know SAVE is probably out the window now. I do work a job that qualifies for PSLF. Do I need to do anything to get on that pathway? I feel a bit lost in all of this. Thank you!

Is anyone else who has the full sum of their loans just thinking of nuking them since Trump got in office?

I was holding out since the biden administration was attempting various forms of forgiveness or payment plans that were borrower friendly and I just don't see the GOP doing the same.

Is this overreacting or is anyone else thinking the same thing?

I graduated back in June, but on the website it shows that my "due date" of $0 for the loans is this month, which confuses me because I thought grace period is supposed to be 6 months after I graduate? I never dropped below half-time, and I even double-checked with my university to see if anything affected my grace period, but they could not find anything. I did get an email that my repayment start date is next month, but then does that mean grace period ends this month or next month? Was wondering if anyone knows anything about this. I am trying to pay off my loans right before grace period ends and interest starts accruing, so any feedback is appreciated!

I have a private student loan. Couldn't make payments for 4 months. They sent me emails frequently. Today, I got an email that the loan has been sold. What does it mean? And is the next company that bought the loan will be aggressive than the previous one?

I wish I had waited to submit it - my payments are currently $0 and my income change with this recertification will bump it to over $200. My saving grace is that they aren’t even processing forms right now but I sure wish I had just never even submitted the form.

Hi all,

I’m currently applying for loan consolidation and my grace period doesn’t end until December 23rdish. The application asks if I’d like to delay processing and I’m wondering if I should delay until December (so 1 month)? I’m just confused about the timing because if I apply for a loan consolidation and I delay it for a month, will I still have to make my first payments at the end of the grace period or will they be suspended until the consolidation is complete and my new payment plan is processed? I’d like to ideally make my first payments underneath the consolidation and new payment plan so should I not delay processing if I’m applying right now?

Hi everyone!

I am considering switching from SAVE to IBR. My most recent tax return on file with the IRS is from 2022 when I was single. My wife and I got married in 2023. We filed for an extension to do our 2023 taxes - we ultimately decided to file jointly. We mailed in the 2023 return a few weeks ago (before the deadline) however it still has not yet been processed by the IRS.

When I use FSA’s website to start the IBR application process it prompts me to provide both me and my wife’s current financial documents (eg pay stubs). What I am hoping is that FSA will use my most recent processed tax return (from 2022) for the IBR application since this would result in a much lower monthly payment. Is there any way to do this without lying about my current marital status? Any insight would be helpful!

I am a first year studying medicine for 6 years in the UK. I am entitled to the maximum maintenance loan (10.3k) and will likely be eligible for it for my whole degree. I am also entitled to a 6.5k bursary each year too which i don't have to pay back. I was wondering if i should ask for my maintenance loan to be decreased because i have more than enough to live on with the bursary as well as the fact i can work during off term times. Initially i just thought that i'll take all the money i can get and worry about it later.

I was talking to some of my friends and they were saying I'm gonna be struggling to pay it all back. Am I going to be in so much debt that its going to cause future problems?

Thank you

Hopefully this will help to quell some fears about what the next four years might look like. In the words of Aaron Rodgers (before he was a part-time tackling dummy in NY), “RELAX.”

Trump is a moron, but he’s a predictable moron. He’s driven by ego and not ideology. He’s going to do whatever gets him the most likes. Personally, I think he will decriminalize marijuana during his second term. It’s just too popular of an idea not to. His fragile ego can’t pass up the opportunity to be the one who pulls the trigger on this. There were two medical MJ referendums on the ballot in my ultra-conservative home state this week. The first passed with 71% of the vote. The second passed at 67%. Granted we’re like a decade late to the party, but we got there. Sorta. Finally.

Thankfully Vance isn’t a moron. He graduated from tOSU in two years with honors and went on to Yale Law. He’s largely very moderate. He has his moments but thankfully none of those moments involve education. He’s one of the four cosponsors (2 Ds, 2Rs) of a bill to enact Domenic and Ed’s law. If passed it would allow for the discharge of Parent PLUS Loans if the child for whom the loans were taken out for becomes disabled or unable to work. Why that type of sensible student loan reform isn’t already in-place is beyond me.

Anyways, that’s enough bloviating from me. This was a post about TPD until my ADHD took over.

Section 437 of the Higher Education Act (HEA) covers disability discharge. The law (United States Code) specifically protecting TPD is covered by 20 USC 1087d. This is what Congress passes and would literally take an act of Congress to change. Because it looks like the Democrats have held on to enough seats to keep the power of the filibuster intact, nothing wild is going to happen. Also, passing legislation against education is tantamount to political suicide.

At least in my simpleton brain, it’s easiest to think of the HEA as the master set of blueprints to a house. Section 437 is but one page in the master set of blueprints. The code, 20 USC 1087d, is the working set of blueprints used by the Department of Education Secretary (currently Miguel Cardona if you want to put a face to a name, err, a name to a title).

Congress doesn't care about (within reason) how Secretary Cardona frames the walls or tiles the floors in the 8'x10' bathroom, they just need it to be an 8'x10' bathroom with the shower over here and the throne over, and for it to be brought in on budget. The Department of Justice (currently Merrick Garland) is there to enforce the HEA and 20 USC 1087d to ensure it all gets done as planned. There is level upon level of oversight. That’s what makes the government great a PITA all at the same time.

What Congress doesn’t care about is the color or cost of tile the Secretary picks (within reason). He’ll work with a designer to come up with a design plan that’s within reason. It’s a collaborative effort better known as the negotiated rulemaking process. That plan is published as the Code of Federal Regulations. 34 CFR 685.213 is where TPD resides. The Congressional Review process is there to keep anything too wild from sneaking through the cracks.

What is within reason? That’s a subjective matter. The negotiated rulemaking process they’d use to come up with the design plan is limited to matters not of “political or economic significance.” Political significance open to interpretation. Economic significance is generally accepted to be around $2B per year. If the Secretary wanted to give a free puppy to anyone who signs up for an IDR or pick hot pink floor tile, then he would run into the political significance buzzsaw and is something to take back to Congress first. If he wanted to spend $500B+ on floor tile, then he needs to run it by Congress first. The economic significance part is what the SAVE pissing contest is about.

Assuming we get past the puppies and dollars issues, we get to the part you directly interact with. That’s the TPD application. This is how they mix the mortar and seal the grout. Like I said, there are layers upon layers involved with any of this and why it’s so hard to make sweeping changes overnight or even over the course of years.

And if I’m completely wrong and someone felt like committing political suicide and we get past Congressional gridlock issue and they found 50 other Senators or 217 House members to jump off the building with them, nothing is going to happen. There wouldn’t be any sort of TPD clawback or reinstatement of discharged loans while in the monitoring period. That’d require double political suicide by first crapping on education and then crapping on the disabled. That person couldn’t get elected to the PTA if they did that.

So, to finish where we started, “RELAX.” Hopefully this makes the events of this week more digestible and allay any fears.

Here is HEA, section 437 begins on page 408. It’s the master set of blueprints: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-765/pdf/COMPS-765.pdf

Here is 20 USC 1087d, thankfully it's not 857 pages and starts on page one. It’s the working set of blueprints: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2023-title20/pdf/USCODE-2023-title20-chap28-subchapIV-partB-sec1087.pdf

Here is 34 CFR 685.213. It’s the design plan. Sadly, no goodest doggos are involved: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2024-title34-vol4/pdf/CFR-2024-title34-vol4-sec685-213.pdf

Here is the TPD application. This is the end user interface. https://studentaid.gov/sites/default/files/TotalandPermanentDisabilityDischargeApplication-en-us.pdf

The Domenic and Ed’s law bill Senator Vance cosponsored. Please write your Representatives and Senators to get this out committee hell and passed: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/4333/text?s=1&r=10

Has anyone had any luck choosing Aidvantage as their final servicer after consolidating one loan with EdFinancial and one with Mohela?

I see comments of Nelnet/CRI supposedly accepting new requests later this month but now I’m a little worried