Will President Biden Cancel Student Loans
Even though President Biden included student loan forgiveness in his presidential campaign, there are few signs that he will offer widespread loan forgiveness or cancellation. Instead, he has focused on improving existing programs broadening eligibility requirements or automating the forgiveness process for programs like TPD discharge, borrower defense to repayment and Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
Employers Eligible For Public Service Loan Forgiveness
Three employer types qualify as public service:
- Government Including Federal, State, and Local
- Non-Profits 501 Organizations
- A Private Not-For-Profit Organization Must have one of the following public service activities as the primary purpose:
- emergency management,
- public interest legal services,
- early childhood education,
- public service for individuals with disabilities and the elderly,
- public health,
- school library services, or
- other school-based services.
Common Public Service Loan Forgiveness Mistakes
If you are employed full-time by a government or not-for-profit organization, you may be able to receive loan forgiveness after making 120 qualifying payments , thanks to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.
You cannot receive forgiveness any sooner than 10 yearseven if you pay early or extra every month. For PSLF, you must make 120 separate monthly paymentsand you can receive credit for only one payment per month, no matter how much you pay. If you consistently pay more than you have to, it will reduce the amount forgiven once you reach the 120 payments necessary.
- 1. Not submitting an Employment Certification Form each year
- 2. Making mistakes on your Employment Certification Form
- 3. Not consolidating your FFEL, Perkins, and parent PLUS loans
- 4. Not enrolling in an income-driven repayment plan.
- 5. Missing your income-driven repayment recertification date
- 6. Staying on a deferment or forbearance
- 7. Missing payments
- 8. Not being strategic with early or extra payments
Video advice: Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program Overhaul Update October 6, 2021
Recommended Reading: Which Bank Has The Lowest Auto Loan Rates
If I Qualify What Steps Do I Need To Take
Changes to the loan forgiveness program will take place in two parts.
The agency will first loosen some of the rules that had prevented eligible borrowers from discharging their loans, via a limited waiver. The government, for example, will allow payments on any of a person’s loans to count toward the total number required for forgiveness.
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness waiver will be available to borrowers who have direct loans, Federal Family Education Loans and Perkins Loans.
Parent PLUS loans are not eligible under the limited waiver.
The department said it would automatically credit borrowers who already have direct loans and have proved they work in an eligible field. Others who haven’t enrolled in the program or have ineligible federal loans will have to apply for forgiveness, which may require them to consolidate their loans. Borrowers will have until October 2022 to apply.
To find out more about loan consolidation, visit StudentAid.gov/Manage-Loans/Consolidation.
The Education Department also plans to review all Public Service Loan Forgiveness applications that had been denied and to give federal employees automatic credit toward forgiveness.
Other changes will come about more slowly via regulations made by “rule-making,” a lengthy and complicated bureaucratic back-and-forth between the government and other stakeholders.
For more information, visit StudentAid.gov/PSLFWaiver.
What To Do If You Dont Qualify For Student Loan Debt Forgiveness Programs
If you have private student loans or your career makes it impossible to qualify for a traditional loan forgiveness program, youll need to pursue other options. Consider these strategies to pay off your student loans once and for all:
- Switch up your repayment plan: If you dont qualify for federal loan forgiveness but you need a lower monthly payment, see if you can play around with your repayment plan. Federal loans offer plans that let you repay your balance for up to 30 years, which could significantly lower your monthly bill.
- Refinance your student loans: Refinancing your private student loans can be a smart idea if you have good or excellent credit, or if you have a co-signer. Private lenders can offer extremely low interest rates, and you can choose a repayment plan that works for your needs and budget.
- Pay more than the minimum: If you want to ditch your loans as fast as possible and cut down on interest charges, consider paying more than the minimum each month. Youll need to notify your loan servicer and specify that you want your overpayment to go toward the principal of your loan balance and not toward your next payment.
Recommended Reading: Usaa 10 Day Payoff
How To Apply For Total And Permanent Disability Loan Discharge
The Department of Education proactively works to identify student loan borrowers who qualify based on VA or SSA criteria, so there’s generally no application necessary for those who meet those qualifications.
If you’re found to be eligible, the Department of Education should send a letter to notify you and provide a date by which you can tell the agency that you don’t want the discharge. If you don’t respond, your loans will be automatically forgiven.
If you haven’t received such a letter and believe you qualify or if you think you’re eligible based on a physician’s certification, you can submit an application with your documentation to Nelnet, the servicer that handles TPD cancellations, via the TPD discharge website.
You can also apply by phone or email if you prefer. If this is the case, payment requirements on your federal loans will pause for 120 days, so you have time to submit any supporting documents.
If your disability makes it so you can’t apply on your own, someone can help you. Before they apply on your behalf, though, you and your representative will need to complete an applicant representative designation form, which you can download from the TPD Discharge website.
Once your application is submitted, Nelnet will explain the review process. You won’t be required to make monthly payments while the application is being reviewed.
Sole Proprietors With Payroll Costs
If you are running payroll costs, your PPP loan calculation requires a few more steps.
Start by taking your gross income as reported on line 7 of a 2019 or 2020 Schedule C. You will then need to subtract any payroll costs as reported on lines 14, 19, and 26. The value you find after subtracting the payroll costs is capped at $100,000. Keep this number handy, it will be used to calculate your owner compensation share or proprietor costs later.
Add in your annual payroll costs for 2019 or 2020 . This can be found through your payroll provider or on IRS forms 941, 944, or 940. Remember that you can only include employees whose primary residence is in the United States and their earnings must be capped at $100,000 annualized.
Once youâve added your annual payroll costs to the amount taken from your Schedule C, divide by 12 to find your average monthly payroll expense. Multiplying this number by 2.5 will give you your PPP loan amount.
You May Like: How Long Does Sba Approval Take
Which Navient Student Loans Do You Have
First of all, you should keep in mind that Sallie Mae loan forgiveness is completely different from Navients loan forgiveness programs. They both have different loan programs, co-signer options, repayment options, credit score requirements, and education loans.
Because Navient does federal loan servicing, as well, you have to separate your private loans from your federal loans . Since there are different forgiveness programs for each type of loan, it makes a huge difference.
If you dont remember which type of student loans you took out, you can always call Navient and inquire from them directly. Alternatively, you can check with the federal governments National Student Loan Data System by conducting a Financial Review.
Its best if you have federal loans since that makes you eligible for federal forgiveness programs, provided youve been making your monthly payments. However, private student loans are subject to the rules of the company that provided the direct loan. Private student loans can be eligible through the state, or in some cases, profession-specific forgiveness programsif youve been regularly making the student loan payments.
Furthermore, check if Navient is your loan servicer. Just log in on the federal student aid website with your FSA ID and check your current ED servicer. Itll most likely be Navient. However, it could also be FedLoan Servicing, Nelnet, or the Great Lakes Higher Education.
Loan Forgiveness For Lawyers
There are about a million jokes about lawyers being bloodsuckers on society, but the federal loan program begs to differ. There is a financial incentive for lawyers to practice in public service or government offices in order to have some portion of their law school loan forgiven.
For example, the Department of Justice provides up to $60,000 in loan forgiveness for lawyers who work there for at least three years. The Air Force Judge Advocate program offers up to $65,000 in loan forgiveness.
The best place to start looking might be your own law school, since several colleges forgive some or all of the student loans for students who make less than $60,000 a year.
That amount varies, so check with your school to get actual requirements and amount forgiven. If you cant qualify for a forgiveness program, look into refinancing your law school debt.
You May Like: Fha Mortgage Refinance Rate
You Currently Have Direct Loans And Have Not Yet Applied For Pslf
You will need to submit a PSLF form so we can review your loans under the simplified rules and determine whether your current or past employers qualify for PSLF. You can submit this form through the PSLF Help Tool at StudentAid.gov/PSLF. Because we expect an influx of applicants due to this announcement, you may see some delays in having your application processed, but we will work as quickly as possible to assist you. You will need to submit your application by October 31, 2022.
Other Student Loan Aids
Some private organizations offer to help veterans pay their loans. Some may provide aid in the form a huge one-time payment. Others may provide student loan repayment plans.
RELATED: Student Loan Forgiveness for Military
Student loan forgiveness for veterans is the least we can do for our countrymen who sacrifice their lives for us. It also encourages the next generation to serve their country through the military.
Theres no better way to show thanks to our veterans than the continuous support for student loan forgiveness for them.
Also Check: Va Manufactured Home Guidelines
Public Service Loan Forgiveness: What It Is How It Works
Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This may influence which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list ofour partnersandhere’s how we make money.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness is a federal program designed to encourage students to enter relatively low-paying careers like firefighting, teaching, government, nursing, public interest law, the military and religious work.
You must make 10 years worth of payments, for a total of 120 payments, while working for the government or a nonprofit before qualifying for tax-free forgiveness.
You can use the PSLF Help Tool on the federal student aid website to find out your eligibility based on the types of loans you have and your employer.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness has undergone temporary changes in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
-
First, all federal student loans were put into forbearance with no payments due through May 1, 2022.
-
Second, the Education Department has issued a limited waiver through October 2022 of sometimes-onerous provisions for PSLF qualification.
The waivers for PSLF qualification mean that a broader range of past payments on federal loans will count toward forgiveness, as long as you were working for a qualified employer at the time.
Ppp Loan Forgiveness For Sole Proprietors And The Self
When the coronavirus pandemic began, there sure was a lot that went wrong with the Small Business Administrationsâ Paycheck Protection Program a.k.a. the Cares Act passed by Congress, wasnât there?
- The first round of funding was snatched up so fast that many small businesses were left out in the cold.
- Not to be caught off-guard again, small businesses flooded the SBA site when funding again became available and the site crashed.
- Unbelievably, even though there are more than 10 million self-employed freelancers, sole proprietors, solopreneurs, and independent contractors in the U.S., they were not even eligible for the first round of PPP loans.
Maybe even more odd was the fact that some businesses/business people that applied for, and received, PPP funds clearly didnât fit the intent of the program:
The Los Angeles Lakers? Shake Shack? Kanye West? Yep.
How were these folks legitimate borrowers? How were they eligible to get PPP loan funds? Talk about rubbing salt into the wound.
And yet, despite all of that initial bad news, once the loan program gained some traction, the kinks were ironed out, changes were made and eligibility increased. For us, the best of these changes was that later rounds of PPP funding allowed the self-employed to get in on the assistance, even though many did not have actual âpayrollâ per se.
Don’t Miss: Autosmart Becu
Why You Can Trust Bankrate
Founded in 1976, Bankrate has a long track record of helping people make smart financial choices. Weve maintained this reputation for over four decades by demystifying the financial decision-making process and giving people confidence in which actions to take next.
Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that were putting your interests first. All of our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts, who ensure everything we publish is objective, accurate and trustworthy.
Our loans reporters and editors focus on the points consumers care about most the different types of lending options, the best rates, the best lenders, how to pay off debt and more so you can feel confident when investing your money.
Other Options For Paying Student Loans
If you’re still having trouble making your monthly payments even with other forms of financial assistance, there are still options available:
- After the federal student loan repayment resumes in February 2022, file a request for additional forbearance or deferment and provide supporting documentation of your financial hardship.
- Apply for an income-driven repayment plan, which reduces your monthly payment to 10% to 20% of your discretionary income. What’s more, these programs extend your repayment term to 20 or 25 years, after which any remaining balance is forgiven.
- If you’re able to work, look into employers that offer student loan repayment assistance programs.
Refinancing your student loans could potentially help give you some more control over your monthly payments and possibly even reduce your interest rate, but you should consider it only if you don’t anticipate needing access to federal benefits like forgiveness and income-driven repayment. Refinancing federal student loans to an account with a private lender will lock you out of these benefits.
Finally, while it can be difficult to have student loans discharged in bankruptcy, it is possible in certain situations. If your financial circumstances are dire, consider consulting with a bankruptcy attorney to explore your options.
Don’t Miss: Loan License In California
Important Tips & Info
- Include your PPP Loan number. While completing your application, if you do not know your PPP loan number, we can add it for you during our review process, or you can find it on your PPP Promissory Note. It is referred to as SBA Loan Number on the top portion of the document.
- Include your NAICS code. The North American Industry Classification System is the standard used by Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments. For more information about NAICS codes. visit .
- What happens after I submit my application? Once we receive your completed forgiveness application, which must include supporting documentation for loans exceeding $150,000, we will then review it internally to confirm your calculations. The bank is allowed up to 60 days for this review process. Once the banks review process is completed, your forgiveness application will then be submitted to the Small Business Administration for approval. The SBA has 90 days to review the application to make a determination on loan forgiveness.
- Helpful tools to help you complete your application. The following online tools may be helpful in completing your Forgiveness Application:
Public Service Loan Forgiveness Has Automatic Student Loan Forgiveness But Theres A Catch
There have been major changes recently to student loan forgiveness, especially for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. . The U.S. Department of Education has said $2 billion of student loans will be cancelled within weeks. This is good news for public servants who work full-time for a qualified non-profit or public service employer, make 120 monthly payments and meet other requirements. Historically, the program has rejected as many as 99% of applicants, but that should change going forward as requirements have been loosened so that more student loan borrowers can qualify. While student loan borrowers will get automatic student loan forgiveness after meeting the programs requirements, student loan forgiveness is not automatic for a limited waiver for student loan forgiveness. . Through October 31, 2022, student loan borrowers can apply for a limited waiver for student loan forgiveness and count previously ineligible student loan payments. Importantly, this limited student loan forgiveness is temporary.
How to apply: You can apply for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. You can also apply for a limited waiver for public service loan forgiveness.
Also Check: What Is Bayview Loan Servicing
