Anxieties over student loan debt have been heightened in recent weeks by reports of several for-profit institutions going bankrupt and the impending pandemic-caused economic disaster that is expected in 2020. Student loan forgiveness for all debtors, not only those who work in the public sector, attend on a repayment plan, or have been cheated by their college, has become a hot-button issue in the current political debate. Even though the federal government does not get much credit for its crisis reaction, student loan debtors should credit the federal government for its assistance in repaying their $1.7 trillion in debt.
With 30 million individuals suddenly out of work due to the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020, federal authorities intervened once more by suspending interest and monthly bills on federal student loans many times. That means if you owe federal student loan debt, you are not forced to make a payment until May of 2022. Charges will not collect and this will not negatively affect your credit score.
Even if you can’t afford to pay, you’ll still get your entire payment applied to the loan, and no interest will accrue, making now a great time to get your finances in order.
You should know the details of any government action before you waste an opportunity, but there is reason to believe that the government can aid in a time of need. Here’s a quick guide to get you up to speed.
List of Contents
What Is Student Loan Forgiveness?
By receiving student loan forgiveness, debtors no longer have to make any payments on their federal student loans. These students used student loans to cover the costs of their post-secondary education. Those who work in the public sector or in education or the military may be eligible for loan forgiveness programs.
How Student Loan Forgiveness Works
If a debt is forgiven, it indicates that the borrower no longer has to pay it back, or at least a portion of it. The vast majority of student loans in the United States are government-issued or government-backed, accounting for approximately 92% of all student loans in the United States.
That is to say, the highly renowned loan forgiveness schemes do not apply to any privately issued loans, such as those from a commercial bank or lenders like Ascent.
Loans may be forgiven or canceled in certain circumstances. Applying and making payments may be necessary for those who want their loans forgiven.
In spite of the high number of people who want to get rid of their student loans, just a small percentage of those who qualify really do. Depending on the type of loan, some grant forgiveness solely to those who work in specified public service positions, such as teachers or firefighters. Teachers, government officials, military personnel, and AmeriCorps members are some examples.
There are several exceptions to this rule: not all federal loans. Direct loans, Stafford loans, and Federal Family Education Loans are the most common types of student loans that can be forgiven, however there are exceptions for some groups, such as teachers (FFELs).
Borrowers of student loans may also be eligible for debt discharge or forgiveness as part of their repayment programs.
Different Types of Student Loan Forgiveness
Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)
In order to qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF), you must work in a public service employment for either the government or a non-profit organization. Volunteering, military service, or practicing medicine may be eligible for forgiveness of some or all of your student loan debt.
In order to qualify for public service debt forgiveness, you must pay 120 qualifying payments (which means paying the minimum amount due on time). Generally, these payments must be paid while you are employed by a tax-exempt nonprofit or a government agency with federal, state, or local government authority. After ten years of work and ten years of monthly payments, you’ll be eligible for Medicare (120 payments overall).
Nurses, government workers (police officers/firefighters), and social workers can apply for these posts. Only contributions received after October 1, 2007 are eligible for this assessment.
When it comes to getting rid of your student debts, you can only get rid of direct loans provided by the federal government. There are no non-federal loans included in this program (i.e. loans from private lenders and lending businesses).
To combine your loans, if you don’t have a William D. Ford direct loan, you can use FFEL or the now-defunct Perkins Loan Program, respectively, to do so. The new aggregated loan is then eligible for the PSLF that was previously discussed.
A 2021 Revamp for PSLF
Payments made on the combined loan only counted toward the 120-payment requirement under ordinary PSLF criteria; payments made on the previous loans were not taken into account. The government’s four income-driven repayment programs were also a requirement (see below).
However, on October 6, 2021, the U.S. Department of Education announced a significant reduction in program limits. It’s possible for borrowers to get credit for payments they’ve already paid on loans that wouldn’t normally qualify for PSLF (such as FFELs or Perkins Loans) until October 31, 2022. It doesn’t matter whether a payment was late or not complete; you can still qualify for more. In addition, payments made under any repayment plan, not only income-contingent ones, count now.
By Oct. 31, 2022, you must still have direct loans or seek to consolidate them into direct consolidation loans if you don’t already have them. PSLF participants are also affected by the new regulations.
Student Loan Forgiveness vs. Student Loan Discharge
In spite of the fact that their final outcomes are identical, student debt forgiveness and student loan discharge are not the same thing. In the event of a loan discharge, the borrower’s duty to repay the debt instantly ceases to exist. On the other hand, loan forgiveness requires a borrower to continue making payments until their application is accepted. A discharge may also entitle a borrower to a return of any prior loan payments they’ve paid.
When a borrower files for bankruptcy, dies, or is permanently handicapped, the loan is discharged. It’s possible that an educational institution committed fraud, in which case a student’s loan is voided. For example, if it is demonstrated that the educational institution lied to the student in a significant way, the borrower might be discharged from the need to repay federal student loans.
Generally, you can get rid of your debt if one of the following things happens:
- During the academic year, the school will be closed.
- State laws are being flouted by the school.
- The institution misled about the student’s loan eligibility.
- Obtaining a loan through the use of a false identity
- The school’s inability to pay back the loans it has borrowed
Some “circumstances outside of the borrower’s control” may qualify for a federal school loan to be forgiven. Factors like not being able to obtain employment after college or having to leave school early are not included on this list. Students may be eligible for loan forgiveness if their institution engages in unethical recruitment practices, such as promising them a well-paying job after graduation.
The Drawbacks of Student Loan Forgiveness
Forgiveness of student loans might be a huge help if you qualify. There are, however, some disadvantages to take into account.
It’s a lengthy process, for starters.
Even if you are eligible for federal loan forgiveness, the process might be lengthy. Your loans may not be forgiven for up to 25 years, depending on the program you are enrolled in.
Spending years, if not a lifetime, trying to pay off your debts may be exhausting. Debt, on the other hand, might have a negative impact on your capacity to pursue other objectives. It’s possible that you’ll have to delay obtaining additional types of credit, such as a home mortgage or a vehicle loan, until you’ve paid off your existing debt.
There Is No Guarantee of Forgiveness
In reality, only a very small fraction of the people who apply for loan forgiveness will be successful. Since November 2020, just 1.6 percent of PSLF candidates have actually been able to receive loan forgiveness. The government introduced the Temporary Expanded PSLF due to the large number of persons who were refused (TEPSLF).
TEPSLF’s enhanced payment and loan conditions allowed more debtors to qualify for loan forgiveness. Only a very tiny number of debtors have had their debts canceled. A total of 95.6% of PSLF applications were turned down as of February 2022 since just 4.4% of them matched the new TEPSLF conditions.
Only a small percentage of borrowers will be eligible for loan forgiveness. The great majority of borrowers will be on their own when it comes to repaying their debt.
While you wait, the amount of debt you owe might rise.
As a borrower in an IDR plan, you should be aware that the amount of money you owe might rise dramatically over the course of 20 or 25 years.
A $50,000 grad PLUS loan at 5.3 percent interest and an annual salary of $45,000 is an example. Your monthly bill would be $538 under a 10-year regular repayment plan, and you’d pay $64,523 over the course of the loan.
You might qualify for an IDR plan if the monthly cost was too expensive. With income-based repayment, installments would begin at only $131 per month. Payment of $485 would be due at the end of the term under the assumption that your income would rise by 5% annually.
The remaining debt would be forgiven by the government after 20 years. In spite of the fact that $34,019 would be discharged, you would still owe $66,930, which is more than the ordinary repayment plan would have cost.
You can miss out on better salaries.
Even if Public Service Loan Forgiveness is an attractive option for some, the opportunity cost must be considered. Those who have worked for a qualifying nonprofit or government organization for a total of ten years are eligible for PSLF. Companies that satisfy the standards of PSLF pay much less than for-profit firms, which is unfortunate.
According to a Payscale survey, most for-profit corporations pay 4% to 8% more for specific jobs than nonprofits. That wage gap might grow over time.
As an example, let’s imagine that at the age of 25, you accept a position with a for-profit corporation. Your lifetime earnings will equal $4.2 million if your beginning pay is $35,000 and your compensation rises by 5% per year.
Instead of working in the private sector, you may earn a wage that is 8% lower. By the time you’re 65, you’ll have earned $3.9 million, which is $300,000 less than if you had worked for a for-profit corporation.
There’s a Chance You’ll Be Taxed.
In some cases, you may have to pay income taxes on the amount of debt forgiveness you are eligible for and when it is completed. Loans forgiven by IDR, but not PSLF, have historically been subject to taxation.
Student loan forgiveness is not subject to federal income tax under the American Rescue Plan Act, approved last year. It is important to note that this provision is only applicable to loans that are forgiven between the years 2021 and 2026.
Any future debtors who qualify for loan forgiveness may be forced to pay income tax on the forgiven amount if that provision is not renewed.
Alternatives to Student Loan Forgiveness
The following methods can help you reduce your debt faster if you don’t want to apply for federal loan forgiveness programs or aren’t qualified.
Benefit from Employer Repayment Assistance
A rising number of businesses provide their employees with student loan repayment as a bonus. The Employee Benefit Research Institute conducted a 2021 study and found that 48 percent of companies with 500 or more employees had or intended to offer student debt repayment assistance programs.
Employer assistance programs match your monthly student loan payments up to a particular amount or percentage of your wage. To give you an example, your employer may match up to $100 each month of your contributions.
In order to pay off your debt more quickly, you might take advantage of these services.
Make Additional Payments
Paying more than the minimum is an effective method to reduce your debt and save money on interest. Even a small monthly payment increase might significantly impact over time.
Loan Refinancing for Students
Consider refinancing your student debts if you don’t qualify for loan forgiveness or if you have private loans. Interest rates may be cheaper for those with consistent income and solid credit histories.
With a lower interest rate, you’ll pay less in interest and save funds over the length of the loan since more of your payment will go toward the principal. If you refinance your federal student loans, you will lose your grace period and be ineligible for loan forgiveness.
Conclusion
Plans for forgiveness don’t always go as planned. Many employees in the public sector that qualify for loan forgiveness pay much less than their private-sector counterparts. Even if you don’t qualify for loan forgiveness, having a career with a better earning potential may allow you to pay off your debt more rapidly.
Remember that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) may regard forgiven student loan debt as income, so you may have to pay tax on that amount if you receive forgiveness of all or part of your student loans.
Even though student loan debt forgiveness will not be taxed until 2025, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ensures that this won’t be a problem for the next few years.
It is important to get formal confirmation of the amount and details of any debt forgiveness program that you engage in.
FAQs
To apply for student loan forgiveness, borrowers should contact their loan servicer or the Department of Education for particular forgiveness program information and eligibility requirements. The application procedure and required documents will vary depending on the program for which the borrower applies.
Student loan forgiveness is unlikely to impact a borrower’s credit score negatively. When a loan is forgiven, it is often reported as “paid in full” or “settled” to the credit bureaus, which may improve the borrower’s credit score.
Private student loans are not eligible for federal forgiveness programs. However, some private lenders may offer their own options for loan forgiveness or payback to borrowers experiencing financial hardship or other special situations.
Related Articles:
- 5 Best Private Student Loans for June 2022
- Ascent: One of The Best Private Student Loans for June 2022
- Private Student Loans: Another Helpful Option
Read more: Funds & Loans
Source: Forbes, Investopedia