Federal Student Loan Forgiveness Through The IDR Waiver

After months of waiting, the Department of Education has (finally) released more details about the guidelines and timeline for the enacting the Income Driven Repayment Plan Waiver.
Join us as we dig into the details of the waiver, and walk you through a sample student aid file to show how you can check your own progress towards loan forgiveness.
EPISODE RESOURCES
IDR Waiver FAQ
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[@prettyrican34]

Mine were just forgiven, a month after receiving the email

[@suecopen6005]

Don't get too excited....being fought in court. Some a...holes are trying to block it! That makes no sense as forgiveness after a certain amount of time has been going on for decades. Biden is just trying to fix problems in it to give those that should have qualified , student loan forgiveness.

[@EscapeStudentLoanDebt]

There is hope regarding the court fights. The first attempt at striking it down failed. It's being appealed, but I am pretty sure that the forgiveness will stand. And for those whose loans are already forgiven, I doubt there would be any real mechanism for having those balances restored.

[@kellihullaby775]

It was super helpful that you went over the report. Thank you!

[@EscapeStudentLoanDebt]

Glad it was helpful!

[@nickt.7305]

@kellihullaby. He also has a great video on interest. I have six figure debt and have to be on IDR. His video helped me understand that I can be on IDR and also potential pay off additional interest to minimize the growth of my principal balance.

[@k3n12ock]

I simulated my loans and under all plans, it says $0 for estiamated forgiveness amount so anyone who had theirs forgiven, congrats!

[@pamelashivers5234]

Thanks for the information. How do I get my loans reviewed?

[@lisalister8002]

So very helpful!!

[@user-vb8dm5gt8b]

@13:55 Can you put a link to the episode where you talk about how to consolidate FFEL loans? Also, once they are consolidated, are they eligible for the SAVE program?

[@EscapeStudentLoanDebt]

Thanks for watching! We do not have an episode walking through on screen on the KZbin channel, but if you go to studentaid.gov/loan-consolidation/ it only takes about 10 minutes to complete the application, and it's pretty straightforward. And yes, after you consolidate, the loan would then be eligible for the SAVE plan

[@_Make_America_Native_Again]

Hi, great video. I graduated from a graduate school in 2012 and was on some type of deferment/ forbearance from 2012 to 2014. Then in 2014 I got a job and was put on IBR repayment plan until I applied for the save plan in October 2023. I took a year off after my university graduation in late 2005 and was working at a bank for 1 year until I got into a graduate school in summer of 2007. So there was a gape of one year of deferment/forbearance or some type of repayment plan in 2006. So my question is, how would IDR adjustment treat my 2006 gape ? Would they give me payment credit from 2012 or from 2006 ? Thanks in advance for your advice

[@EscapeStudentLoanDebt]

Sorry for the delayed response, we're behind on our replies! The second year of the 2012-2014 stretch could be counted as a year, then the years from then until 2023 would count as well. I doubt the full year of 2006 would count because 6 months of that could have been a grace period where payments weren't required. So it's a cop out to say it depends because there are some forbearances which won't be credited, but you could conceivably have in the area of 10 years of credit (2013-2023). Maybe a year less, maybe a few months more.

[@palmeranimations]

I really need to know which payment plan to choose, While I am consolidating to take advantage of this IDR one time adjustment, it is offering me to choose from four different IDR plans. If I choose one of these four: IBR, ICR, PAYE, or REPAYE plans will any of them mess up this one time adjustment? Can I chose PAYE and get out 5 years quicker, or is PAYE bad for students with older loans? Is SAVE good? Will it still qualify me for the benefits of this IDR one time adjustment?

[@EscapeStudentLoanDebt]

I can say that there is almost no scenario where ICR would be the right option, unless it's the ONLY option. If you're eligible for PAYE, it's 20 years if you have undergrad loans only, not grad loans. Same is true for the updated version of IBR. SAVE (which is what REPAYE is now called), will be a strong option for many borrowers. I am expecting that it will be the most popular plan for almost all grad borrowers in the future. And yes, all of these plans are eligible for the one time adjustment. Hope this helps!

[@glomaster1]

I have been looking at the SAVE and IBR options for consolidating my FFEL loan into a Direct Consolidation loan in order to benefit from the one time adjustment, but I've hesitated to complete the Consolidation loan because the Terms and Conditions state: "Any payments I made on the loans I am consolidating before the date of consolidation will not count toward the number of years of qualifying repayment required for loan forgiveness under the REPAYE Plan, the PAYE Plan, the IBR plan, or the ICR Plan." I graduated in 1999, consolidated the first time in 2006, Navient tells me I have 8 years IBR payment count accrued since 2015, but then the consolidation loan to get an adjustment tells me all my payment count will be deleted. @@EscapeStudentLoanDebt

[@troydorce]

On income do they count overtime or just your regular pay because I get lots of OT

[@EscapeStudentLoanDebt]

It's based off of your adjusted gross income from your recent tax return, which would include your overtime pay. So yes, it's counted

[@elianacarrier3]

Is there a specific document to fill out for this IDR plan waiver?

[@EscapeStudentLoanDebt]

thanks for watching Eliana! There is no specific document to fill out. As long as your loans are eligible for the waiver, the Department of Education will review your data file and apply the credits automatically

[@suecopen6005]

except there is a court battle....so wondering if that is what was meant in my letter I got saying my loan was paid in full? It says 'when necessary, account adjustments could result in reinstatement of this loan and would be shown on your montly billing statement' ? I mean is it or isn't it forgiven? Been paying since 1998 btw...college adjunct, but as a science professor my 4 credit classes don't put me into PSLF even though labs are two classroom hours yet only one credit.

[@EscapeStudentLoanDebt]

There will surely be appeals, but the first attempt at cancelling the program actually failed! I would say the odds look pretty strong that the program will continue as planned. And the good thing is, if your loans have already been wiped away, I can't imagine there's an actual mechanism for them to reinstate the debt. So if you've been following the rules to be eligible for the waivers and have been paying since 1998, you should be able to have your loans forgiven under either program (IDR or PSLF) once they review your history

[@newhampshirenativeperennia683]

I would love to share your optimism, but that clause about necessary adjustment and reinstatement basically means…. Your loans really aren’t forgiven until this new suit makes it through the Supreme Court. The only saving grace is it is based on an old higher education act and the student loan reform bill, ( surprisingly) bush put into place, that will give this readjustment stronger footing . Basically I am not jumping for joy over this, nor making plans to save for my old age (wait I already am old) . When I went to do the save program and saw my loan amounts were zero I did not hoot and holler . My reaction was a big ‘fu for doing this before the dust was allowed to settle’ . I think it is wrong to do this now, and gives us what may be false hope, and then possibly claw it back. So instead of great relief I am angry and once again feeling like a pawn in An oligarchy chess game. Meanwhile I can’t file my public student loan forgiveness or do anything to prepare…. Just in case. And I do hope, if this falls through, that my standing with my exception for pslf can still be honored. So I wish I could jump for joy, but that clause is VERY concerning. And I have been burned too many times to count by both parties to feel optimistic.. Awful.

[@Needtoknow208]

If my loan is 25 years will it automatically be forgiven?

[@EscapeStudentLoanDebt]

There's the potential for automatic forgiveness if you'd made 25 years worth of payments and your loans are either Direct Loans or FFEL loans that are "federally-owned". You can check the status by registering for studentaid.gov, viewing your loan details, and if the name of the servicer starts with "DEPARTMENT OF ED/", this means it is a federally owned loan. If it's not federally owned, it would need to be consolidated before 12/31 to be eligible

[@AntonioMartinez-kd9zf]

Hello! I have 3 loans and plan on paying the standard payment plan. I am hoping that my loans will be forgiven as the months go on as I would not have to pay my loans fully. Would you consider this a good idea?

[@EscapeStudentLoanDebt]

Hi Antonio. Standard plans don't offer loan forgiveness, it's only offered through Income Driven Repayment Plans. There is a one time waiver that will apply payments you've made on standard plans in the past towards the time you typically need to pay to have them forgiven on Income Driven Repayment Plans, but that waiver expires in December. If your goal is forgiveness, you'd need to switch plans to the Income Driven Repayment Plan that best fits your budget

[@Kevinwatches]

How do we view our month count?

[@EscapeStudentLoanDebt]

thanks for watching! I would say that as the Department of Education adjusts credits, which could take until the end of 2024, the best way to keep track is to look at your payment history on your NSLDS data file to have an idea of how much credit you could potentially receive. Here's a video where we walk through how to access that file and track your payment history kzbin.info/www/bejne/m5-uqmdjfq2Kh9U

[@mrtreezz8251]

So if i have 2 direct loans that ive been paying on since 2001 that were just forgiven, but i have 4 more direct loans from around 2009 that werent forgiven, can i consolidate now and get them all forgiven??

[@EscapeStudentLoanDebt]

Thanks for watching! To be transparent, I'm not sure how they department would look at this scenario. My thoughts would be that it wouldn't be forgiven, since the two loans that had the payment history long enough to qualify were not a part of the consolidation. I hope I'm wrong, but based on the guidelines as written, to have the credits for all of your loans start in 2001, you would have needed to include them in the consolidation application

[@mrtreezz8251]

Thanks for the reply! although hard to hear, I appreciate you honesty. I haven't applied yet but the application is filled out and the 2 that are forgiven are on the application, I just have to submit it. I wonder if they would be included if I submitted it??@@EscapeStudentLoanDebt