How Can I Get Rid Of My Student Loans Fast
A good education opens the door to a prosperous future. However, before one can begin to enjoy it, he must first overcome a number of obstacles:
- Many hours of study and practice.A student must acquire a set of basic skills required in his professional career to be a good specialist. Practice allows him to see his abilities at work and, if necessary, improve them.
- A lot of writing.Getting a specialization entails a lot of research and paper writing. This task can be simplified by delegating some of it to Best Writers Online, a custom writing reviews service that offers a variety of specialists in various fields.
- Borrowing money for college. Loans assist students who want to get an education but do not have the financial means to do so. Different credit institutions offer students various payment plans involving the payment of small amounts over a period of several years. As a result, a student can work part-time and transfer a percentage of the pay while receiving the desired specialty.
In the United States, educational loans come in three varieties: federal student loans, parent loans, and private loans. Only one of them is open to international students. This is a private loan referred to as a Private International Student Loan.
Payment of a student loan is frequently deferred for years, becoming a burden on the shoulders of a young specialist. Every month, he must tightly control his expenses to pay the required amount of the loan.
Federal Student Loan Bankruptcy Discharges
For years, people have thought it impossible to get rid of Federal student loans by filing for bankruptcy, but thats simply no longer true.
Since I started following the student loans industry, Ive noted many cases where people were able to discharge their Federal loans via bankruptcy, though I do have to say that its still one of the hardest ways to get rid of your debt.
Why? Because it requires passing an extraordinary restrictive Test, which forces you to prove that your student loan debt is so debilitating, its literally making it difficult for your to afford paying for essential things, like food, clothing and shelter.
Anyone who makes any reasonable amount of money, or who is young, or who earned a degree in a field that may lead to good employment prospects will be virtually incapable of passing the Bankruptcy discharge tests, so Bankruptcy is really only an option for people who are totally destitute, and buried in debt.
As an example, if youre middle-aged, unemployed, have several dependents, and owe hundreds of thousands in student loans, then you MAY have a chance at qualifying for a bankruptcy discharge, but if youre not all those things, then youll probably want to look elsewhere for forgiveness opportunities.
Nursing Student Loan Forgiveness Programs
Very few professions tend to rack up as much student loan debt as Nurses, but fortunately, the Government has responded to the issue by creating all sorts of incredible Nursing student loan forgiveness programs.
Nurses will qualify for all the programs mentioned above in the section about Healthcare Employee Student Loan Forgiveness Programs, but theyve also got access to many programs made just for Nurses themselves, including the NURSE Corps Loan Repayment Program and the National Health Service Corps NURSE Corps Scholarship Program.
MANY Nurses will also qualify for the excellent benefits offered under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, so thats another package definitely worth looking into if youre serving as a Nurse in any capacity.
For details on all the incredible student loan forgiveness benefits available to working Nurses, please visit my page on Nursing Student Loan Forgiveness Programs.
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President Obamas Student Loan Forgiveness Program
Obama Loan Forgiveness may be old, but its still one of the best student loan forgiveness programs available to anyone, and its the OG of forgiveness programs.
In fact, as far as I know, Obama Loan Forgiveness introduced the first time the general public became aware that they could qualify for complete student loan forgiveness benefits, and revolutionized the student loan industry.
To qualify for Obama forgiveness, all you have to do is sign up for either the Pay As You Earn Student Loan Repayment Plan, or the REPAYE Student Loan Repayment Plan, then make 20 years worth of payments toward your loans, and whatever amount you still owe will be entirely forgiven.
This program is available to EVERYONE with Federal student loans, so its one of the first places you should look for assistance if youre trying to get rid of Federal debt.
For all the details about how it works, please visit my page on President Obamas Student Loan Forgiveness Program.
Consider Consulting With An Attorney
You’ll find the Brunner test or other standards applied to Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 debtors in lots of court cases. Knowing how the court in your jurisdiction ruled previously could help you determine the likelihood of your success.
If you have a substantial amount of student loan debt, it might be worthwhile to consult with a local bankruptcy attorney. The chances are that if you decide to litigate either the dischargeability issue or assert a defense to the loan in bankruptcy court, you’ll need an attorney to represent you.
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Where To Go For Tax Help
If youre already having trouble with the IRS, or if you simply want to avoid it, then Ive got good news!
I just recently created a new site called Forget Tax Debt, where I offer tax-related information just like Ive done here for student loans, and which could help you figure out how to reduce or eliminate your IRS tax debt.
If youre looking for help Filing and Paying IRS Back Taxes, understanding the IRS Fresh Start Program, or determining how to qualify for IRS Debt Forgiveness Benefits, youll want to visit Forget Tax Debt, where I go through all these topics and more in extreme detail.
Private Student Loan Forgiveness
Although private student loan forgiveness programs dont exist in the traditional sense, there is help out there for private student loan borrowers in certain circumstances. The key is to talk to your lender if youre struggling to see what options are available and to act fast.
You dont want to fall into delinquency or deferment, which could hurt your credit. So if youre facing difficulties with your student loan payments, take action today.
Caitlin See contributed to this article.
Have you used any of these alternatives to private school loan forgiveness?
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Ask About Your Repayment Options
Once you find your loans, the next step is to figure out your repayment options. Federal student loan borrowers have four options to get out of default:
- Repayment in full
- Consolidation
The best option for you will depend on your personal finances and whether you’ve previously consolidated your loans or completed the loan rehabilitation program. If you have an FFEL Consolidation loan, you may be able to consolidate a second time. But loan rehabilitation is limited to once per loan.
Most borrowers will want to get out of student loan default quickly to avoid tax refund and wage garnishment.
Private loan holders and collection agencies don’t offer the same repayment options. Your best option will either be to negotiate a settlement or file student loan bankruptcy.
Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program
Student loan forgiveness for teachers is neither generous nor easy to qualify for. Teachers can have up to $17,500 of their federal direct and Stafford student loans forgiven by teaching for five complete and consecutive academic years at a qualifying low-income school or educational service agency. Loans that were issued before Oct. 1, 1998, are not eligible.
You must be classified as a highly qualified teacher, which means having at least a bachelor’s degree and having full state certification. Only science and math teachers at the secondary level, and special education teachers at the elementary or secondary level, are eligible for $17,500 in forgiveness. Forgiveness is capped at $5,000 for other teachers.
You can qualify for both teacher and public service loan forgiveness , but you can’t use the same years of service to be eligible for both programs. So you’d need 15 years of teaching service to qualify for both programs, along with meeting all the specific requirements to earn each type of forgiveness.
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The University Of Phoenix Discharge Program
How could I cover For-Profit giants without speaking about the University of Phoenix, the literal definition of a For-Profit University, and perhaps one of the most nefarious businesses ever to be founded in the history of mankind.
I shouldnt treat them so harshly, but the problem I have with the University of Phoenix is that they turned higher education into a business, and in that process, removed all the elegance, ambiance and soul from what should be a much more meaningful experience: learning how to act, think, and operate like a mature adult.
UOP successfully mechanized the higher education process, making it available to everyone, including people who had no business applying to and attending four year college degree programs, but theyre now paying for their mistakes in that they too have fallen prey to the Borrowers Defense Against Repayment Program.
If you attended the University of Phoenix, and feel like you were taken advantage of, lied to, or made false promises, then you need to look into wiping out your UOP loans by filing a Borrowers Defense Discharge Application.
For details on how to do that, please visit my page on the University of Phoenix Student Loan Forgiveness Program.
Review Your Loan Terms And Details
Know what you owe, and double check the pay-off dates and grace periods for each loan.
Do this by creating a master list of your student loans, including the servicers, outstanding balances, minimum monthly payments, and interest rates. Having a place you can go to with all your information right in front of you will help you stay organized and make it easier to figure out who to contact for help or advice.
Success in getting back into repayment really depends on student loan borrowers having a clear view of how much they owe, says Canady.
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The Latest News About Student Loan Bankruptcy
In the past it has been difficult to get a private student loan discharge in bankruptcy, but several recent court cases have proved that it is possible.
One notable case came to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York. In the original case, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth Strong concluded that private student loans were not part of the Bankruptcy Code Section 523, which states that any obligation to repay funds received as an educational benefit, scholarship or stipend is typically not eligible for discharge.
She maintained that the section of code did not define student loans or educational benefit, and that referring to a loan as an educational benefit would be an unconventional way to discuss a loan. The appeals court affirmed the lower courts ruling, arguing the U.S. Bankruptcy Code did not prohibit the discharge of a private student loan in bankruptcy.
Some see the 2nd Circuit decision as hope for a loosening of the criteria in private student loan bankruptcy discharge. However, in June 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case of a Texas woman who sought to have her private student loans discharged under a different standard so it appears that the undue hardship requirement may still be in effect.
The Itt Tech Student Loan Discharge Program
ITT Tech is another For-Profit industry giant who ended up collapsing under its own weight, probably due to spending so much money on advertising and enrolling anyone with a heartbeat, including millions of students who ended up defaulting on their loans.
This is another school Im glad to see gone, as I dont think they were doing a good job of providing valuable educational services to their students, and it seems like the marketplace agrees, as ITT Tech has completely ceased operations, making all loans related to the school eligible for the Federal Closed School Discharge Program.
If you attended ITT Tech, then theres a pretty good chance that youll qualify for a Discharge, especially if you never graduated, and were still a student around the time that the school shuttered its doors.
To find out if you qualify for a discharge for your ITT Tech loans, please visit my page on the ITT Tech Student Loan Forgiveness Program.
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Federal Student Loan Forgiveness Programs
As I mentioned earlier in this post, heres the basic rundown on all the amazing Federal Student Loan Forgiveness Programs available this year.
For specific details on each program, youll need to click the links leading to program-specific pages of my site, where I review the programs comprehensively.
Following those links, youll find all sorts of information about each individual program, including who qualifies for them, how much money they offer, whats required to qualify for the benefits, and how you can apply to receive them.
Optimize Your Federal Loans
While you dont have many options for private student loan forgiveness programs, you have a lot more for federal student loans, if you have them.
Federal loans come with a variety of repayment options to help when times are tough. You can utilize these options to ease the burden of your federal loan monthly payments and free up more cash. Hopefully, this will make it easier for you to pay down your private student loans.
Paying down more of your private student loans first also follows the debt avalanche payoff method. Heres how it works:
- The debt avalanche method advises targeting high-interest rate debt first.
- All extra payments should go to that expensive debt while the lower-interest-rate debt gets minimum payments.
- Once your target account is paid off, apply its payments on top of your next target accounts minimum.
- Do this repeatedly until all of your debt accounts are paid off.
This plan works because it reduces the debt that costs you the most money first. It also creates momentum as one account is paid off, you roll over its payments to another account. Suddenly that next account will be paid off a lot faster, and so on.
Now, heres how that applies to your student loans:
Since private student loans tend to come with a higher interest rate, targeting them first lines up with the debt avalanche method nicely.
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The National Collegiate Trust Discharge Program
The National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts is another servicing-related company that may end up ushering in one of the biggest student loan discharge programs ever, thanks to its sloppy record-keeping practices.
This company hired a bunch of debt collection agencies to go after borrowers who had defaulted on their loans, but what emerged from the resulting lawsuits was that the company itself couldnt even prove it actually owned the debt it was attempting to collect.
And thats great news for anyone thats had anything to do with the National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts, or the debt collection agencies working for it, because apparently theres about $5,000,000,000 in student loan debt that the company has lost the records of, and which may end up being totally discharged because of legal complications.
To find out how this story shakes out, please be sure to visit my page on the National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts Student Loan Forgiveness Program.
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The Devry Student Loan Forgiveness Program
The DeVry Student Loan Forgiveness Program offers $100,000,000 in student loan relief and forgiveness benefits, with options for both Federal and Private borrowers to receive financial assistance.
To qualify for the benefit, you must have attended DeVry between 2008 and 2015, the period of time the Department of Education has proven the school misled students about graduatess job prospects, salaries, etc., and you will need to fill out some paperwork to prove your student status, outstanding loan debt, etc.
If you attended DeVry during the covered period, then you should have received a letter from the school notifying you of your eligibility for the benefit.
To get the details on exactly how this program works, please visit my page about the DeVry Student Loan Forgiveness Program.
Private Student Loan Refinance Options
Your financial situation may have improved since you first got your loan, or the rate when you applied for the loan could be higher than the rate youre eligible for now. Either way, it may be a good idea to consider a private student loan refinancing as a way to help with debt relief. You can refinance with your current lender or shop around for a new one. You can also requalify to extend your loan repayment term length. That will lower your monthly payments, but you could end up paying more in total interest over the life of your loan since its for a longer period.
If you have more than one student loan, you could also refinance to make them all into one loan. That not only makes it easier to keep up with all your payments, but it could also lower your singular payment based on the interest rate.
Keep in mind that if you refinance your federal loans with your private student loans to make them one payment, you could lose some of the key protections you had with the federal loan.
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