Question: Dear Steve, I have a Student Loan with Navient. I’m paying it (on time) since 2000. They were FFEL Stafford Subsidized Loans that were converted in a FFEL Consolidated Loan on 1999 with Sallie Mae. I am an employee of a not-for-profit organization that has been designated as tax-exempt by the Internal Revenue Service … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, I consolidated my undergraduate loans into an FFEL Consolidation loan, disbursed in October 2007, owned by Nelnet. After that, I graduated, worked three years at a nonprofit, only to discover the payments I made during those years weren’t eligible for PSLF because I was paying on an FFEL loan, not a direct … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, Took out Federally backed Student loans with Sallie Mae 20 years ago after a divorce. Had to use deferments due to job losses and health issues. Borrowed around $75,000 for three degrees. Due to the delayed interest from the deferments I now owe $126,000. I am now in retirement at 69 years … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, I’m currently a full-time PhD student at a very reputable university who is entering what is hopefully the final year of graduate school. While I’ve been fully funded all of my years here, the stipend has never been enough to help me pay down any of my loans from previous undergraduate and … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, Student Loan Assistance Center SLAC said that they would help me with my student loans. I currently have $307,500 worth of them right at 50 when I checked myself. I currently don’t have a source of income, and I still have two children in the home. They wanted me to come up … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, My student loan (originally taken out for my children) is now owned by the government and administered by fedloan.gov. The loan is in my name alone — my wife is not on the loan. 1. Does filing separately exclude my wife’s income from consideration in an IBR? When I started with fedloan.gov … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, I just got word from my employer that they will be garnishing my wages due to unpaid student loans. This is the second time this has happened to me. I went through the rehabilitation process the first time but was told at that time this you can only be eligible for that … Read more
The Department of Education recently launched the much awaited new federal student loan income based repayment option REPAYE (Revised Pay As You Earn). They should have named it WTF. While the program gives some consumers additional options, it is a complete miss for those wanting to get beneficial relief, especially if they are married or … Read more
By Bob Preston The President and the United States Department of Education has just unwrapped a gift for every college student who ever took out loans to get an education – But beware! Sometimes the gift wrapping is much more attractive than the present. This one should be opened with extreme care, or as I … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, When I was 18, I got pregnant with my first child. I had to quit the college that I was going to on a full scholarship because they had no programs for families and I couldn’t afford to make it on my own and still go to school. I moved back home, … Read more