Question: Dear Steve, My husband and I did one of those awful spousal consolidations years ago. He originally borrowed about 100K and I borrowed 30K. We have since added another 100K in Parent Plus loans. which we have consolidated and are currently on an ICRP. The balance is over 400K at this point. We just … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, I still owe 245k (with interest mounting) including interest on student loans. Unfortunately, circumstances prevented me from finishing my Medical degree, however, it was not medical in nature. I will be 70 in June of 2019. Is there any program or consideration for loan forgiveness for geriatrics? Dorothy Answer: Dear Dorothy, There … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, I have no idea how to get started on applying for student loan forgiveness. I have been paying every months (with some setbacks) for almost 20 years. I did take a forbearance when I was on maternity leave several times a long long time ago. I believe that I had a FFEL … Read more
1. Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program Forgives the remaining balance on your Federal Direct Loans after 120 qualifying payments (10 years). View complete program details at StudentAid.gov/publicservice. Here are some highlights: This program has the broadest employment qualification requirements of the federal programs listed—it doesn’t require that you teach at a low-income a public … Read more
The State of Maryland has just moved up to the most awesome state with the announcement of their new Maryland SmartBuy program. The program will “Pay off student debt AND get highly attractive financing and closing cost assistance to purchase move-in-r​ead​y homes made available through the Department of Housing and Community Development.” Now the selection … Read more
Now that Donald Trump has been elected President it’s time to start planning for the new Trump Student Loan Forgiveness Program. Early indications are the stock market thinks income and profit are going to improve for student loan companies like Navient. Keep in mind the markets are driven by the chance or opportunity of profitability … Read more
On May 23, 2016 the Federal Trade Commission and State of Florida filed suit against Student Aid Center, Ramiro Moris, and Damien Alvarez. The FTC alleges the Florida based company, shocker, took advantage of consumers. The complaint states: “Defendant Student Aid Center, Inc. (SAC) is a Florida corporation with its principal place of business at … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, I have taken out loans to pay for college. Several of them are from Sallie Mae, which is now Navient. Over the past 20 months, I have been unemployed for 14 of them. I was initially laid off in Sept of 2014, and again in Oct of 2015 my 6 month contract … Read more
The Obama administration is rolling out plans to forgive the federal student loan debt of people who are designated as permanently disabled by the Social Security Administration. This is estimated to forgive about $8 billion in federal student loans and assist debtors who are permanently disabled from having benefits garnished and forcing them through struggles … Read more
In the budget the Obama administration has just sent to Congress there are some benefits for students who will face massive tax bills when their student loans might be forgiven under income based programs. As it stands now, students are enrolling in income driven repayment programs to reduce their current monthly payments to a level … Read more
Back in October of 2014 I wrote a story titled Millions of Federal Student Loans Lining Up to Be Eliminated and Borrowers Repaid. At the time I wrote that article some people said I was crazy. After all, how could people actually have their federal student loans forgiven because they were defrauded. Well the simple … Read more
If you have more student loan debt than you can handle, or if you’ve been paying and paying (and paying) and can’t make headway, chances are you’ve wondered about student loan forgiveness. As you look into your options, keep in mind that everything you read (or hear — even from your student loan servicer) may … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, I am the sole provider for me and my daughter, which will be a sophomore this upcoming fall. I have a outstanding student loan for 29,000. I attended a 2 year technical college called Miller-Motte, I graduated with an associates degree, which have never done any work in that field. I work … Read more
For those looking for legitimate student loan forgiveness help it seems there are bad actors and scammers just waiting to take advantage. Some of the most ridiculous scams I’ve seen seem to circle around misinformation and bad advice for ridiculously high fees. Don’t get me wrong, it is entirely possible for have federal student loans … Read more
“Dear Steve, So this is less my situation than my partner’s. Ryan had a bit of a rough patch in his younger days – a pretty long one actually – and managed to rack up a school loan debt without managing to graduate college. He has $18,000 on the books right now that has been … Read more