1. Paying Off Student Loans
What we’ll cover…
Your loan information
Difficulty making payments
Repayment Plans
Loan Forgiveness

2. Information About My Loans National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS)
Total Loans – balance owning – servicer
Repayment Options
Trouble Making Payments
Consolidation
Default
Money Saving Tips

4. FAFSA/P-Note

5. Your Loan History

6. Difficulty Making Monthly Payment DEFERMENT
College enrollment (at least ½ time)
Unemployment (up to 3 years)
Economic hardship (up to 3 yrs)
Graduate fellowship
Military service active duty
Temporary suspension of loan payments
Granted for defined periods
Gov. pays Subsidized interest
Apply to loan servicer - continue making payments until approved

7. Difficulty Making Monthly Payment FORBEARANCE
Student loan debt burden – monthly payments more than 20% of monthly gross income
AmeriCorps
Teacher Loan Forgiveness
National Guard
Temporary postponement /reduction of monthly payments
Can be granted in intervals of up to 12 months at a time for up to 3 years
Interest continues to accrue on both subsidized & unsubsidized
Apply to loan servicer - continue making payments until approved

8. Selecting a Repayment Option
Choose/change plans to suit your financial circumstances
FFEL - must allow you to switch at least once each year but most will allow more often if necessary
Direct Loans - may change plans at any time by notifying your servicer
Can prepay all or part of unpaid balance at any time, without early repayment penalty

11. Estimate your student loan payments

12. Direct Consolidation Loan
Single Monthly Payment - combine multiple federal education loans into a new loan - refinancing
Longer Repayment Period – up to 30 years
Reduced Monthly Payments
Fixed Interest Rate = weighted average of all loans – may not necessarily be lower
No Minimum or Maximum Loan Amounts or Fees Direct Consolidation Loan is free.
Loans must be in grace period, repayment or deferment – not “in-school “ status
Loss of Benefits: i.e. grace period, repayment discounts, certain deferments, forgiveness, cancellation
Stafford, Grad PLUS & Perkins only
Not for Alternative loans
A PLUS loan made to the parent of a dependent student cannot be transferred to the student through consolidation. Therefore, a student who is applying for loan consolidation cannot include the PLUS loan the parent took out for the dependent student’s education.

13. Loan Consolidation Calculator

15. Loan Forgiveness Programs www.direct.ed.gov

16. Stafford Loan Forgiveness Program for Teachers
Teach full-time for five consecutive, complete academic years - at least 1 year must have been after academic year
Certain elementary and secondary schools that serve low-income families and meet other qualifications
May be eligible for forgiveness of up to a combined total of $17,500 in principal and interest on their FFEL and/or Direct Loan program loans
Must have an outstanding balance on FFEL or Direct Loan as of 10/1/98
Amount of forgiveness based on completion year and certification by Chief Administrator Officer of school

17. Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)
Borrowers may qualify for forgiveness of up to 100% of remaining balance of DLs after 120 separate, on-time, full, scheduled monthly payments while employed full time for qualified public service employers
Most beneficial with high debt relative to income
Earliest date any borrower will be eligible to apply for/receive loan forgiveness is October only qualifying payments made after October 1, 2007 may be counted toward required 120 payments - may not apply until after all 120 payments have been made
PSLF application will be made available before October 2017
According to IRS, forgiven amount is not treated as taxable income
What federal student loans are eligible for forgiveness under the PSLF Program?
Any non-defaulted loan made under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program (Direct Loan Program) is eligible for loan forgiveness. (See below for information on how non-Direct Loans may be eligible.) Th e Direct Loan Program includes the following loans:
Federal Direct Staff ord/Ford Loans (Direct Subsidized Loans)
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Staff ord/Ford Loans (Direct Unsubsidized Loans)
Federal Direct PLUS Loans (Direct PLUS Loans)—for parents and graduate or professional students
Federal Direct Consolidation Loans (Direct Consolidation Loans)
NOTE: To qualify for forgiveness of a parent PLUS Loan you, the parent borrower, not the student on whose behalf you obtained the loan, must be employed by a public service organization.

18. PSLF - Qualifying Employment
Any federal, state, local or tribal government entity
public elementary and secondary schools
public colleges and universities
public child and family service agencies
public: transportation, water, bridge district, housing authority
U.S. Military
A not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
A private, not-for-profit organization (that is not a labor union or a partisan political organization) that provides certain public services

19. PSLF - Qualifying Employment
Type or nature of employment with the organization does not matter
Full-time – teacher/other employee of a public service organization:
under contract for at least 8 out of 12 months
work an average of at least 30 hours per week during contractual period
receive credit by employer for a full year’s worth of employment
Borrower can work at multiple organizations while making the required 120 payments
Must have been working full time at a public service/nonprofit organization when applying for and are granted PSLF - and at the time the remaining balance on loan is forgiven

20. PSLF – Qualifying Payments
After 120 separate, on-time, full, scheduled monthly payments are made
Payments must be made no later than 15 days after schedule due date
Scheduled payments = those made under qualifying repayment plan after servicer has billed you for the month's payment – don’t include those made during in-school, grace, deferment or forbearance periods
Only payments made after October 1, 2007 qualify
 Must be made while employed full-time by qualified public service employers
What federal student loans are eligible for forgiveness under the PSLF Program?
Any non-defaulted loan made under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program (Direct Loan Program) is eligible for loan forgiveness. (See below for information on how non-Direct Loans may be eligible.) Th e Direct Loan Program includes the following loans:
Federal Direct Staff ord/Ford Loans (Direct Subsidized Loans)
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Staff ord/Ford Loans (Direct Unsubsidized Loans)
Federal Direct PLUS Loans (Direct PLUS Loans)—for parents and graduate or professional students
Federal Direct Consolidation Loans (Direct Consolidation Loans)
NOTE: To qualify for forgiveness of a parent PLUS Loan you, the parent borrower, not the student on whose behalf you obtained the loan, must be employed by a public service organization.

21. PSLF – Qualifying Repayment Plans
Must use:
Income-Based (IBR)
Income Contingent (ICR)
Pay As You Earn (PAYE)
Standard (10yr) Plan won’t result in remaining balance
Extended repayment plans do not qualify
Income-driven plans are most likely to leave a remaining balance for forgiveness after 120 qualifying payments
What federal student loans are eligible for forgiveness under the PSLF Program?
Any non-defaulted loan made under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program (Direct Loan Program) is eligible for loan forgiveness. (See below for information on how non-Direct Loans may be eligible.) Th e Direct Loan Program includes the following loans:
Federal Direct Staff ord/Ford Loans (Direct Subsidized Loans)
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Staff ord/Ford Loans (Direct Unsubsidized Loans)
Federal Direct PLUS Loans (Direct PLUS Loans)—for parents and graduate or professional students
Federal Direct Consolidation Loans (Direct Consolidation Loans)
NOTE: To qualify for forgiveness of a parent PLUS Loan you, the parent borrower, not the student on whose behalf you obtained the loan, must be employed by a public service organization.

22. PSLF – Forgiveness - Example
What federal student loans are eligible for forgiveness under the PSLF Program?
Any non-defaulted loan made under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program (Direct Loan Program) is eligible for loan forgiveness. (See below for information on how non-Direct Loans may be eligible.) Th e Direct Loan Program includes the following loans:
Federal Direct Staff ord/Ford Loans (Direct Subsidized Loans)
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Staff ord/Ford Loans (Direct Unsubsidized Loans)
Federal Direct PLUS Loans (Direct PLUS Loans)—for parents and graduate or professional students
Federal Direct Consolidation Loans (Direct Consolidation Loans)
NOTE: To qualify for forgiveness of a parent PLUS Loan you, the parent borrower, not the student on whose behalf you obtained the loan, must be employed by a public service organization.

23. PSLF – Qualifying Loan Types
Direct Loans (DL)
Direct Subsidized Stafford
Direct Unsubsidized Stafford
Direct Consolidation
Grad PLUS
Parent PLUS - parents must work in public service
Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL) and Federal Perkins Loans must be consolidated into a Direct Consolidation Loan
only payments made on Consolidated loan qualify
may loose certain Perkins cancelation bens if consolidated
Only for non-defaulted loans

24. PSLF - Misc
FedLoan Servicing (PHEAA), has been assigned responsibility for administering PSLF for all Direct Loan borrowers
You may not receive a benefit under both the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program and the PSLF Program for the same period of teaching service

25. Public Service Loan Forgiveness specialists at 855-265-4038
PSLF Procedures
Determine if your organization(s) is qualified – should send Employer Certification Form early so servicer can determine eligibility
Determine need to consolidate FFEL and Perkins Loans
Determine if you qualify for IBR, ICR, Pay As You Earn repayment plans
Submit Employment Certification form to PHEAA – annually – to certify prior year employment.
Retain employment documents – Paystubs; W-2’s
Submit PSLF application after 120th payment is made (after 10/2017)
Public Service Loan Forgiveness specialists at  

26. Federal Perkins Loan Teacher Cancellation
Up to 100% cancellation (discharge) if served full -time for an academic year in public or nonprofit elementary or secondary school system as a teacher:
In a school serving students:
from low-income families
special-education teacher - infants, toddlers, children, or youth with disabilities
In the fields of:
mathematics
Science
foreign languages
bilingual education
or in any other field of expertise determined by a state education agency to have a shortage of qualified teachers in that state

27. Perkins Loan Cancellation Rates
Up to 100 percent of the loan may be canceled, including the interest that accrued during the year, for teaching service, in the following increments:
15 percent cancelled per year for the first and second years of service,
20 percent canceled for the third and fourth years, and
30 percent canceled for the fifth year

28. Student Loan References

29. Questions?