The Student Loan
footnote Borrow responsibly We encourage students and families to start with savings, grants, scholarships, and federal student loans to pay for college. Students and families should evaluate all anticipated monthly loan payments, and how much the student expects to earn in the future, before considering a private student loan.
The Student Loan
footnote Loans for Undergraduate & Career Training Students are not intended for graduate students and are subject to credit approval, identity verification, signed loan documents, and school certification. Student must attend a participating school. Student or cosigner must meet the age of majority in their state of residence. Students who are not U.S. citizens or U.S. permanent residents must reside in the U.S., attend school in the U.S., apply with a creditworthy cosigner (who must be a U.S. citizen or U.S. permanent resident), and provide an unexpired government-issued photo ID. Requested loan amount must be at least $1,000.
The student loan payment pause is extended until the U.S. Department of Education is permitted to implement the debt relief program or the litigation is resolved. Payments will restart 60 days later. If the debt relief program has not been implemented and the litigation has not been resolved by June 30, 2023 - payments will resume 60 days after that. We will notify borrowers before payments restart. Visit Mohela.com/covid19 or StudentAid.gov/coronavirus for updates.
Courts have issued orders blocking student debt relief. The Biden-Harris Administration is seeking to overturn those orders. For the latest information regarding the status of student debt relief, visit StudentAid.gov.
As of July 2022, MOHELA became the student loan servicer for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). Borrowers pursuing PSLF will be transferred to MOHELA upon the approval of their submitted PSLF form. Check the status of your PSLF form.
In April 2022, the U.S. Department of Education announced several updates that will bring borrowers closer to forgiveness under income-driven repayment (IDR) plans. Borrowers who have reached the required number of payments for IDR forgiveness will begin to see their loans forgiven in spring 2023.
All other borrowers will see their accounts update in summer 2023. If you have Perkins loans or commercially held FFELP loans, you can only get the full benefits of the one-time account adjustment if you consolidate by May 1, 2023.
Today, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) proposed regulations to reduce the cost of federal student loan payments, especially for low and middle-income borrowers. The regulations fulfill the commitment President Biden laid out in August when he announced his Administration's plan to provide student debt relief for approximately 40 million borrowers and make the student loan system more manageable for student borrowers. The proposed regulations would create the most affordable income-driven repayment (IDR) plan that has ever been made available to student loan borrowers, simplify the program, and eliminate common pitfalls that have historically delayed borrowers' progress toward forgiveness.
"Today the Biden-Harris administration is proposing historic changes that would make student loan repayment more affordable and manageable than ever before," said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. "We cannot return to the same broken system we had before the pandemic, when a million borrowers defaulted on their loans a year and snowballing interest left millions owing more than they initially borrowed. These proposed regulations will cut monthly payments for undergraduate borrowers in half and create faster pathways to forgiveness, so borrowers can better manage repayment, avoid delinquency and default, and focus on building brighter futures for themselves and their families."
The proposed regulations would amend the terms of the Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE) plan to offer $0 monthly payments for any individual borrower who makes less than roughly $30,600 annually and any borrower in a family of four who makes less than about $62,400. The regulations would also cut in half monthly payments on undergraduate loans for borrowers who do not otherwise have a $0 payment in this plan. The proposed regulations would also ensure that borrowers stop seeing their balances grow due to the accumulation of unpaid interest after making their monthly payments.
While these regulations would provide critical relief to student borrowers, the Biden-Harris Administration is also committed to ensuring postsecondary institutions and programs are held accountable if they leave borrowers with unaffordable debts. The Department is currently working on a proposed gainful employment regulation that would cut off federal financial aid to career training programs that fail to provide sufficient financial value and require warnings for borrowers who attend any program that leaves graduates with excessive debts. The same regulatory package will also include proposals to strengthen the conditions that can be placed on institutions that fail to meet the requirements of the Higher Education Act or exhibit signs of risk.
The Department is also taking steps today to carry out President Biden's announcement from August that the Department would publish a list of the programs at all types of colleges and universities that provide the least financial value to students. To advance this effort, the Department is publishing a request for information to seek formal public feedback on the best way to identify the programs that provide the least financial value for students. This public comment process will ensure the Department is carefully considering a range of perspectives and considerations as it constructs the list. Once the list is published, institutions with programs on this list will be asked to submit improvement plans to the Department to improve their financial value.
The proposed regulatory changes would substantially reduce monthly debt burdens and lifetime payments, especially for low and middle-income borrowers, community college students, and borrowers who work in public service. Overall, the Department estimates that the plan would have the following effects compared to the existing REPAYE plan:
The draft regulations build upon the work the Biden-Harris Administration has already done to improve the student loan program, make colleges more affordable, approve $48 billion in targeted relief to nearly 2 million student loan borrowers, and fight to provide up to $20,000 in one-time debt relief to over 40 million eligible borrowers, including 26 million who have already applied. These regulations also propose to build on the Administration's commitment to ensuring IDR plans deliver relief to eligible borrowers. This includes ongoing steps to provide accurate counts of progress toward forgiveness for borrowers through a one-time account adjustment.
Payments are suspended and interest rates are at 0% for federal student loans owned by the U.S. Department of Education.We will notify borrowers before payments restart. VisitStudentAid.gov/coronavirusOffsite and Great Lakes' COVID-19 page for updates.
The Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB) is responsible for licensing student loan servicers operating in the District of Columbia. If you have concerns regarding student loans you can reach out to Ricardo Jefferson, the Student Loan Ombudsman at (202) 727-8000 or [email protected].
The Ombudsman is an unbiased and confidential resource and evaluates the concerns of District borrowers and student loan servicers to promote collaborative solutions. The Ombudsman cannot represent borrowers or make decisions about specific loan forgiveness or repayment plans. The Ombudsman can provide information and guidance on many issues related to student debt that include:
The Federal student loan repayment program permits agencies to repay Federally insured student loans as a recruitment or retention incentive for candidates or current employees of the agency. The program implements 5 U.S.C. 5379, which authorizes agencies to set up their own student loan repayment programs to attract or retain highly qualified employees.
Loans eligible for payment are those made, insured, or guaranteed under parts B, D, or E of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 or a health education assistance loan made or insured under part A of title VII or part E of title VIII of the Public Health Service Act. (See Q&A 17 for examples of the types of student loans that are eligible for repayment.)
Although the student loan is not forgiven, agencies may make payments to the loan holder of up to a maximum of $10,000 for an employee in a calendar year and a total of not more than $60,000 for any one employee.
Agencies are required to report annually to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on their use of the student loan repayment authority. Before March 31 of each year, agencies must submit their reports for the previous calendar year. The reports must contain-
Under 5 U.S.C. 5379 and 5 CFR part 537, Federal agencies are authorized to implement a program under which they may agree to repay certain types of student loans as a recruitment or retention incentive for highly qualified personnel. Below is a summary of the best practices and lessons learned by agencies that have successfully implemented student loan repayment programs. This information is intended to assist agencies in establishing and administering a student loan repayment program.
The repayment authority, 5 U.S.C. 5379 as amended, is limited to student loans authorized by the Higher Education Act of 1965 and the Public Health Service Act. These are Federally insured loans made by educational institutions or banks and other private lenders.
The next two payment options may require negotiations with the lender/note holder to adjust the existing payment schedule to conform to the dollar limits established under the Student Loan Repayment Program. They are intended to provide consistency in approach toward loan repayments. For example, in determining periods of service, the [AGENCY COMPONENT] may follow the current practice of service for [AGENCY]-paid training/education, which is to require service based on a ratio of 1:3, e.g., 3 months of service for a 1-month class. 041b061a72