Chances like this don’t come around often and we’re months away from asking for help, but the Department of Education is offering a unique one-time opportunity to cancel or get closer to canceling federal student loans.
This window is tight, too. You’ve only got until April 30th, 2024 to get this done.
What you need to know
To consolidate to maximize forgiveness, you need to have one of these types loans:
- Commercially held FFEL loans
- Parent PLUS loans
- Perkins Loans
- HEAL Program loans
This is not a complete forgiveness of your student loan, but the consolidation creates a new loan eligible for the adjustment, counting more of your past payments towards cancellation.
Your one-time adjustment will consider many past payments, including deferments and forbearances.
That alone could qualify you for cancellation sooner under Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plans, which typically forgive loans after 10-25 years of on-time payments.
But, even if you don’t qualify for cancellation now, an IDR plan can knock your monthly payments way down, based on your income. You can enroll in IDR anytime.
Parent plus borrower?
If you’re not a student, but a parent who’s been repaying a Parent PLUS loan for at least 25 years (300 months), that will automatically be canceled through this adjustment.
However, if you haven’t reached 25 years, consolidating before April 30th will help you to get the most out of the program.
There are no dumb questions
If you don’t understand this – the consolidating, the applying, the enrolling in IDR – contact the Department of Education at the agency’s website. This information is also available as a printable flyer.
And for heaven’s sake, if someone calls you on the phone pitching this idea to you, don’t listen because it’s 99.9% likely a scam reports Consumer Affiars.
Take action by April 30th to maximize your student loan forgiveness!
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