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Wiggy Marie
Jan 16, 2006

Meep!
I would definitely recommend consolidation only if that is your preference. Your total balance isn't so high that consolidation is your only option, and if you can afford to make large payments on your accounts now and pay them off in 5-7 years sans a consolidation, I think that would save you the most in that amount of time.

If you want to do the cons though, unfortunately NTHEA doesn't do consolidations anymore - the only company you can go with is Direct: http://www.loanconsolidation.ed.gov/

Give them a call, give them all of your information and have them tell you what the rate would be. Even if they give you a long repayment you can still have above the monthly due amount withdrawn so that you pay it off faster.

Call your servicer about your due dates and find out what is due when and for how much. Get that straightened out ASAP, you don't want to suddenly get a delinquency notice because of a glitch in the system!

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3 DONG HORSE
May 22, 2008

I'd like to thank Satan for everything he's done for this organization

me posted:

I need some help figuring out the College Loan Repayment Program. My recruiter just told me that the Direct PLUS loan* my parents took out won't be covered by the CLRP. Everywhere I looked online says that the PLUS loan is eligible for the program. What I'm confused about is my recruiter said that I have to be on the Master Promissory Note or else it doesn't qualify. I see a few problems with that...

1) Why would I be on the MPN for a parent loan? I have lovely credit and practically no money, so I wouldn't be a co-signer for that.
2) I don't even think I can be added retroactively even if I could be on the MPN.

I'm going to make some calls about this, but I'd like to know if he's bullshitting me or if there is an actual red tape issue (that hopefully has a solution). Any experience or comments would be appreciated.

*Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students

Cross posting from GIP. Any suggestions before I attempt to take on the fed?

Okay, so I just read the OP, and now I know I can't add myself to the MPN. But then, how the hell would this even be eligible for the CLRP if, apparently, my name has to be on it for it to qualify?

3 DONG HORSE fucked around with this message at 06:50 on Jan 20, 2011

ProfessorDandypants
Jan 1, 2006

By Carnegie's diamond-encrusted monocle!
I'm in my final semester of college, and I just need 1200 to graduate. I got approved through Discover for a private loan to cover it, and they're waiting for my school, Cal State Fullerton, to certify it. However, when I called CSUF about it, they said I need to fill out a FAFSA.

Shouldn't I be able to get the school to certify me without FAFSA if it's for a private loan? Or is this some kind of common practice I was unaware of?

who cares
Jul 25, 2006

Doomsday Machine
Hopefully, if I get accepted, I will be starting a masters program in the fall.

I am going to fill out a FAFSA once I get my W2. My mom is claiming me as a dependent for the last time this year. Will this make any difference with respect to my estimated contribution?

seacat
Dec 9, 2006

ProfessorDandypants posted:

I'm in my final semester of college, and I just need 1200 to graduate. I got approved through Discover for a private loan to cover it, and they're waiting for my school, Cal State Fullerton, to certify it. However, when I called CSUF about it, they said I need to fill out a FAFSA.

Shouldn't I be able to get the school to certify me without FAFSA if it's for a private loan? Or is this some kind of common practice I was unaware of?
I can confirm that in the majority of cases, the school does need to certify a loan, including a private loan, which does require an active FAFSA on file.

I did have one private loan through MyRichUncle (now defunct) which just sent me a check in the mail when I was approved, which was weird, since the money goes to your school first obviously so the school can take its cut if you have any outstanding debts to them. I'm pretty sure this was standard practice for MRU. I do believe they verified my enrollment with the university, but not the financial aid dept. So it was a student loan, but not really. I'm not sure if any places like that still exist.

However, from your post it seems that you haven't taken any private loans, so it's doubtful over your finaid limit, so your school should have no problem certifying the loan.

SublimeDelusions
Jun 19, 2005
Dentyne Fire + Dentyne Ice = End of World?
Ok.. I need help.. Majorly, and this is just the thread to figure some things out in.

I may as well air this here, but I can take some of it to PM if you prefer.

As it stands, I had to pay my way trough my M.S., putting me at roughly 60-70k in debt. When going for my Ph.D., they made me an offer for funding my first year (never said if funding would be allowed for previous years, just "it's up to your advisor"). I find out that funding was NOT given for other years, which has since put me to having to pay for most of my Ph.D. out of pocket to the tune of a 97k debt in student loans. I'm drastically close to them cutting off what I'm allowed to take out, and it's looking like I may not be able to afford the rest of my Ph.D.

In addition, there's no guarantee that I'll be able to finish the Ph.D. where I'm at at all due to administration fuckery. This means I may have to leave the school with nothing to show for the 30k I've given them in loans, and nothing that will help me to get a job to pay them down.

This has led me to have to reconsider other avenues for a career and I'm considering reapplying to medical school. This implies a lot more debt on top of the debt that I'm already going to have coming out of this.

What exactly am I looking at and how hosed am I? I should also note that my M.S. program, and my Ph.D. program both had computer screw ups that listed me as graduating the year I enrolled there, so I burnt my 3 month grace period already unknowingly. The computer issues have since been fixed, but now it's not going to help much.

Recently I have relied only on Stafford subsidized and unsubsidized loans. I took out a couple Grad Plus loans during my M.S. for the first year. I consolidated most of my loans from undergrad. As it stands, I don't think there's much else in terms of loans. I can say that I don't believe I've taken out any private loans as of yet.

Frankly, I think I'm hosed on this debt since I can't really get a job that will allow me to make a reasonable enough income to survive on my own and pay down the debt ever, and I'm not sure I'd be able to get enough cash to be able to afford medical school at all. I really could use a lot of advice on what to do next.....

help?

Wiggy Marie
Jan 16, 2006

Meep!
old dog child, assuming you're talking about the military one, military.com states the following:

quote:

Air Force
The College Loan Repayment Program (CLRP) is a program created for all non-prior service persons considering enlistment in the Air Force. If you have taken some college courses and have accumulated debt, this great program may be for you. Participants must sign up for this program when signing the enlistment contract. Under CLRP repayment maximum is $10,000 per recruit. Go to the "Education" section of the Air Force site for more details.

Unfortunately it doesn't go into much detail over what kind of loans are eligible, and the air force site didn't have much more information:

quote:

The College Loan Repayment Program (CLRP) is for all non-prior-service persons considering enlistment in the Air Force. If you have taken some college courses and have accumulated debt, this program may be for you. Participants must sign up for this program when signing the enlistment contract. Under CLRP the repayment maximum is $10,000 per recruit.

Another google search did turn up links that say PLUS loans are eligible, however none of them were from the source, so to speak. In your position I would go another level up if possible, or contact a servicer directly to ask them.

As for a PLUS loan, your name can't be on it in the sense that you're responsible for the debt, however your name is tied to the loan as the student for whom it was taken for, which I imagine is what the military cares about.

ProfessorDandypants, to expand on what antwizzle said, as of right now there are no education-related private loan lenders who will send the student their money without a certification from the school except under special circumstances where the school has requested it (international studies, for instance). The school needs a FAFSA to determine how much they can certify, although an amount like that is likely to go through without any problems. The FAFSA is insanely easy to file online now, you can even pull your tax data directly from the IRS so it'll just take a few minutes. Just be sure to file the 10-11 FAFSA since I imagine that's what they need for the current school year processing. They will probably get the record overnight and may be able to certify as early as Monday.

who cares, since you'll be a graduate student you will file your FAFSA as an independent rather than dependent student. It doesn't matter if your parents claim you, what matters is that you're going to be a grad student. Assuming you don't make a lot of money, you should qualify for more aid on your own.

SublimeDelusions, when you say administration fuckery, do you mean they actually screwed up? Your situation is a perfect situation to take to the ombudsman of your state. Contact the school and ask them for the ombudman's contact, then contact that person and tell them your story. It might help with the current school, it might not, but it can't hurt to try.

As for debt, honestly you are sitting on a hell of a lot right now and a medical degree may be out of reach. You have to consider paying all of this back, after all, and with an amount like that I imagine you're looking at some private loans on top of federal loans, which are way less forgiving. You should really sit down with an advisor or professor you respect and talk out your situation, get some input from someone you can trust.

The good news is that the federal loans can go onto the income contingency plan so you might not have to pay much of anything once you're in repayment!

Chainclaw
Feb 14, 2009

Thanks to the information you guys gave in this thread about private loans, I think we are going to try and survive without them. We're going to live as much off my income as we can, and then she's going to beg her parents for some extra monthly cash to help out as much as possible. She's also still talking to the financial aid people at her school to go through every option, and when she has time is going to apply for more scholarships.

Money issues always put lots of stress on relationships, and our relationship is fairly young (nearing on the 2 year mark), but I guess you've got to take these kind of risks in life. I've been paying $500 a month on my student loans, which sucks, and I can't imagine how much more than that she would end up paying if she took out these private loans every semester for living expenses.

The big things that scared me to bring up this idea with her were the lack of economic hardship plans on the private loans, and just the massive debt she would end up in with 4 years of private loans in school. It sounds like if you can't land a job in less than 6 months after graduating and start paying your loans back, or you get laid off and can't afford payments, you are hosed.

ProfessorDandypants
Jan 1, 2006

By Carnegie's diamond-encrusted monocle!
Thanks for the help guys! I just submitted the FAFSA online and it was processed pretty much over night. Now to hope that I can my funds by late February...

Wiggy Marie
Jan 16, 2006

Meep!

Chainclaw posted:

It sounds like if you can't land a job in less than 6 months after graduating and start paying your loans back, or you get laid off and can't afford payments, you are hosed.

I cannot begin to emphasize how correct this statement is. For an idea, we have a private loan right now that offers a principal-only forbearance for 1 year based on hardship, including unemployment. Which means even if you have no income, you still need to pay the interest on a monthly basis. Can't pay it? Go delinquent!

Private loans = the devil. Do absolutely everything in y'all's power to avoid them.

ProfessorDandypants, here's hoping!

Sirotan
Oct 17, 2006

Sirotan is a seal.


I'm getting all my paperwork together for my taxes and since 2010 is the first year I started to pay back most of my loans, I was checking Citibank and noticed the 'Qualified Interest' section of the website. It looks like since I had private loans from them I didn't automatically "qualify" and so it tells me my qualified interest is $0.00 when in reality I've paid about $1500 towards interest this year.

According to their site to qualify I need to send in the W-9S form. Is it too late to do this? I'll probably call someone there tomorrow but now I'm worried I've totally missed out on a ton of money.


Edit: Googling tells me if I don't have the 1098-E I can just calculate how much interest I paid based on loan statements as long as I keep a copy of everything in case of an audit so I can prove how I came to that amount. Is this true?

Sirotan fucked around with this message at 00:04 on Jan 24, 2011

Wiggy Marie
Jan 16, 2006

Meep!
I'm not very familiar with private loans, unfortunately :( I highly suggest contacting them OR a tax advisor. Tax advisor might be your better bet, there's one on these forums actually who's great. Unfortunately I can't remember his name but he has a tax thread in the market.

Sirotan
Oct 17, 2006

Sirotan is a seal.


Wiggy Marie posted:

I'm not very familiar with private loans, unfortunately :( I highly suggest contacting them OR a tax advisor. Tax advisor might be your better bet, there's one on these forums actually who's great. Unfortunately I can't remember his name but he has a tax thread in the market.

No worries, I'm pretty sure I found the answer (my edit in the original post), but I'll link it here for anyone else that might have the same question:

http://www.justanswer.com/tax/4bbi0-hi-i-used-student-loan-citibank-master-degree.html

quote:

The 1098E is not submitted with the return. So you will just keep your copies of your calculations with your return for future reference if you are asked later. You will need to keep a copy of the YTD interest form a statement you simply write out to explain how you came about the amount to claim and then keep those with your copy for at least 3 years.

jromano
Sep 24, 2007
I have about $20,000 in Stafford loans, and close to $50,000 in parent Plus loans. I graduate in May and will be looking to consolidate them. As far as I can tell, there will have to be two consolidation, since I can't roll the plus loans into mine even though I will be paying them.

Most of my loans are FFEL, except the ones from this year which are Direct. They are all federal so this shouldn't be a problem right?

The OP mentions that Direct is the best way to go for consolidation. I'm assuming that means to just apply here. Are there any other options I should consider? Also when should I put in the application, do I have to wait until graduation?

Phone
Jul 30, 2005

親子丼をほしい。
I require some assistance. I applied for financial aid last semester and it was granted. I have some unsubsidized federal loans and my parents signed for a PLUS loan. I just received some paperwork stating that the PLUS loan needs to start being paid back; however, I thought that PLUS loans are to be deferred as long as I'm a full time student.

Am I missing something here?

seacat
Dec 9, 2006

Phone posted:

I require some assistance. I applied for financial aid last semester and it was granted. I have some unsubsidized federal loans and my parents signed for a PLUS loan. I just received some paperwork stating that the PLUS loan needs to start being paid back; however, I thought that PLUS loans are to be deferred as long as I'm a full time student.

Am I missing something here?
PLUS loans absolutely enter repayment immediately since it is a parent loan. Whoever told you otherwise is a jackass.

Phone
Jul 30, 2005

親子丼をほしい。

antwizzle posted:

PLUS loans absolutely enter repayment immediately since it is a parent loan. Whoever told you otherwise is a jackass.

The OP, bro posted:

Due to new federal policy, while you the student are attending classes at least half-time or more your parents are automatically eligible for a PLUS in-school deferment!!!. This works roughly the same way as your own in-school deferment. If you can provide the lender with a verification of enrollment showing your status, they can slap a deferment on your parent's account and pause the payments for you.

UCS Hellmaker
Mar 29, 2008
Toilet Rascal

Phone posted:

I require some assistance. I applied for financial aid last semester and it was granted. I have some unsubsidized federal loans and my parents signed for a PLUS loan. I just received some paperwork stating that the PLUS loan needs to start being paid back; however, I thought that PLUS loans are to be deferred as long as I'm a full time student.

Am I missing something here?

Parents had the same problem. From what they found out you need to call the lender and have it set to deferment.

seacat
Dec 9, 2006

Phone posted:


oops ;) sorry, Wiggy! What I meant to say is, it's not automatically deferred like stafford loans, it enters repayment immediately unless you call and ask for the deferment. The jackass comment was more referring to my own situation where I was misinformed by my soon-to-be unemployed finaid counselor about this very thing and is in no way a dig to the fine OP of this thread!!!!!

Wiggy Marie
Jan 16, 2006

Meep!
Sirotan, sweet! Thanks for the information!

jromano, FFEL and Direct loans can indeed be consolidated together, and you found the right spot. I wish there were other options to shop around but there just aren't any other FFEL consolidators anymore. Don't get me started. Direct has pretty good benefits at least.

For the PLUS, you parent will need to be the one to file the consolidation application, but once they have you can have them give Direct 3rd party authorization for you so that you can get information on the account when you need it.

Phone, they can be deferred, your parent just needs to call the servicer and request one like UCS Hellmaker and antwizzle mentioned. Some servicers can do the deferment over the phone and some can't. At worst they'll require a verification of enrollment from the registrar for you. It wouldn't hurt to go ahead and get that in the meantime, just in case. Might expedite processing for you and your parent!

Qwertyiop25
Jan 19, 2011

D is for Dank
It's Hammerin' Hank
Green in his name
And Green in his bank.
I'm currently looking at attending University of Missouri starting this year. We went to a financial aid presentation at my high school today and they made it seem like taking out any loans other than the Stafford and Plus loans meant you were hosed for life. If that's true (which I don't think it is) where does all the other money come from. We won't be getting much from the FAFSA so I'm pretty sure we'll need loans. In essence, I suppose what I'm asking is when people say "I came out of school with x amount of debt" where the debt came from. Are these loans deferred or are they just making minimum payments each month and letting the interest hit them?

DJ Sizzle
Jul 24, 2002

ASK ME ABOUT BEING OLD
Fun Shoe

Edit: I'm going to try and contact gnarstache via PM for a possible answer, didn't see his replies before, but still going to leave the post up so maybe someone can learn and I'll update it with my resolution.

I am an adult learner (36 yrs old) who just filled out the FAFSA and found out I was denied for not being registered with the selective service. The problem is that I DID register back when I was 18. I went to the post office and filled out a post card sized form they gave me and turned it in.

According to the financial aid person I talked to apparently my only recourse is to have my parents (whom I have no relationship with) or other people sign documents saying they saw me complete the form, which would be a lie. I went alone. Then apparently it will be up to the head of the financial aid department to approve it or not and the odds aren't in my favor. I am too old to sign up now or I would. I also have a medical condition which prevents me from serving (I talked to recruiters when I was 17 about it.)

Anyone have any advice on what I should do? Fabricate that one of my friends went with me? I don't want to lie about anything, but I went alone, have no witnesses and my parents had gently caress all idea that I did it. I moved out when I was 18 and never looked back.


It would be fairly easy for me to get some old friends whom I still know say we all went together or get my Dad to sign something that I write up myself, but I don't want to get in any trouble.

This sucks =( I have never had a need for government assistance my entire life and now I just want a loan not a handout.

For those of you familiar with this situation could you tell me what I could come up with that would be the most convincing argument? I feel very deflated having to defend something I have no proof of. I have done jury duty several times, vote in every election, you would think they would have gotten a hold of me from 18 to 26 if they didn't get the drat thing.

DJ Sizzle fucked around with this message at 05:34 on Jan 27, 2011

Wiggy Marie
Jan 16, 2006

Meep!
Qwertyiop25, most schools will plead with students to not take out any private loans, however the huge debts that you see reported in the news are, for the most part, made of private loans. But trust me when I say that private loans are, indeed, the devil. They are to be taken only as an absolute last resort when you've exhausted all other options - and the same advice goes to parents who want the loans in their kid's name. I have begged parents on the phone before to take out a PLUS before making their kid get a private loan.

DJ Sizzle, have you contacted the selective service office? I suggest you start there, get a letter from them and then move forward. It's possible that your application came back with that missing as an error. If the office sends a letter showing that you didn't sign up, then you can go through the "getting people to sign documents" route, although that seems unnecessarily complicated.

If it helps, it's not uncommon for students to get this error on their FAFSA. If you signed up, have someone sign a document saying so and move forward. You won't get into trouble for it.

DJ Sizzle
Jul 24, 2002

ASK ME ABOUT BEING OLD
Fun Shoe
Wiggy, do you have any success stories of people getting the note signed thing if I get a bad response from SS? Also, are you sure there aren't any penalties for writing said letter?

My dad will sign one no problem as will my best friend, but I don't want to get anyone in trouble.

DJ Sizzle fucked around with this message at 23:52 on Jan 27, 2011

cheese eats mouse
Jul 6, 2007

A real Portlander now

Wiggy Marie posted:

cheese eats mouse, if you go to a school that is internationally accredited by the Department of Education, you can actually take out the exact same federal loans that you would within the States. You would need to contact the school to ask if they participate in the Direct loan program through the US Dept. of Ed. Here's another good place to start: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/international/edlite-index.html

If not, you'll need to contact their financial aid office and ask about private loans/scholarships they might have information on for you.

I've already contacted the school I'm interested in applying for, but they don't offer financial assistance for international students. It's where they make all their money any way. :|

Considering that I already am 30k in debt from my undergrad I really don't want to take out any more. Although 18k for a Master's is a steal compared to the U.S.'s retarded tuition rates.

I need to look outside the UK, but am stumped on what a good school vs a bad school is specifically for a MA in Advertising. It's looking like the best decision is to get some savings and pay down my current loans.

cheese eats mouse fucked around with this message at 01:25 on Jan 28, 2011

Wiggy Marie
Jan 16, 2006

Meep!
DJ Sizzle, we've recently started looking into clearing those kinds of FAFSA errors, and trust me, you wouldn't get in trouble. The school just needs the information to clear the error code and move on with your file.

cheese eats mouse, suck! But it's true, international students are a HUGE profit for schools overseas as well as in the states. I couldn't begin to tell you what a good Advertising school would be; do you have any professors you know that you could ask? Also, paying down debt is ALWAYS a good first step!

Ring of Light
Sep 3, 2006

Am I correct that if my parents default on the PLUS loan for me that it won't affect my credit at all? It is my understanding that even though the loans were for my benefit that I am not considered a cosigner of the the loan. I am already graduated and my Stafford loans are in good standing. I just want to make sure that they won't come after me for the balance if my parents aren't making the payments. The Dept of Ed. website in the FAQ that the loan cannot be transferred to the student, and it is the parent's responsibility to repay. Does that mean I am not responsible for that PLUS loan at all?

seacat
Dec 9, 2006

Ring of Light posted:

Am I correct that if my parents default on the PLUS loan for me that it won't affect my credit at all? It is my understanding that even though the loans were for my benefit that I am not considered a cosigner of the the loan. I am already graduated and my Stafford loans are in good standing. I just want to make sure that they won't come after me for the balance if my parents aren't making the payments. The Dept of Ed. website in the FAQ that the loan cannot be transferred to the student, and it is the parent's responsibility to repay. Does that mean I am not responsible for that PLUS loan at all?
I believe this is correct, but I will point out that when my mom was having trouble paying they robocalled me (but presumably only so that they could get ahold of her). As far as I know you cannot be held liable for that debt.

if your parents are having trouble paying, please tell them to get a deferment, because they will end up paying it one way or another, and default tacks on a huge collections fee. Default on a student loan is serious business.

Wiggy Marie
Jan 16, 2006

Meep!
antwizzle is correct on both counts - it absolutely will not affect your credit in any way, and it absolutely will ruin their credit horribly. Tell them to call IMMEDIATELY and ask for their options. There are tons of options for delinquent borrowers, so they can probably hold off default for a while.

Also yes, they will call students on the account as references to try and get ahold of the parent, but they should only call if they haven't gotten in touch with said parent.

Ring of Light
Sep 3, 2006

Yes they did call me after I had posted that, and the person on the phone tried to guilt trip me and tell me it was morally wrong of me to let my dad's wages get garnished for my education. She was trying to convince me to make a payment and get his account in good standing. I kept asking her if I was legally responsible for the the debt and finally she gave me the straight answer that I was not. I told her never to call me again, and hung up. If they call again I will report them to my state attorney general for illegal collections practices.

This is kind of e/n I guess, but I would feel more guilty if my dad was in true financial straights and not just irresponsible and lazy. He likes to put things off forever and ignore them as long as possible and this is no different. We have an estranged relationship right now. He called me for the first time in months to yell at me for defaulting on my student loans because they were coming after him for the money. Turns out he forgot he had taken out that loan for me and he doesn't open his mail regularly. He could have afforded the payments if he would have just opened his drat mail. I gave him the numbers for the department of ed and my school's financial aid office to help him out. Hopefully he will call and take care of it instead of continue to ignore it. I graduated in December of 2009, and my loans started repayment in July 2010. I am guessing he is in default already if he has not made a single payment because he had forgotten about the loan. He was not speaking to me at the time so I had no way of knowing he wasn't paying.

Ring of Light fucked around with this message at 19:22 on Jan 30, 2011

Wiggy Marie
Jan 16, 2006

Meep!

Ring of Light posted:

Yes they did call me after I had posted that, and the person on the phone tried to guilt trip me and tell me it was morally wrong of me to let my dad's wages get garnished for my education.

Sounds like either the servicer's a jerk, or the guarantor's gotten a hold of it. The guarantor has the right to say completely different things, which leads to things like this. I'm not going to take a moral side here since I have no clue what your personal situation is, and neither did this lady. God love collections agencies.

nesbit37
Dec 12, 2003
Emperor of Rome
(500 BC - 500 AD)
I posted earlier in this thread, but you did not know much about IBRs. A couple of things have changed, possibly, and I am not sure who to ask. Who or where can I go for more information on figuring some of this stuff out? I have not had to pay anything back yet on the loans because for the past year I qualified for $0 repayment due to my income status. This will probably change now with payments starting in April. Here is what I am looking for answers for in general:

1. My original loan holder transferred some of my loans to Sallie Mae. I now have $24k in stafford and $3.6k in grad plus at the original lender and $31.5k in stafford loans at Sallie May. The amounts are from separate loans so, for example, Sallie Mae is actually looking for 4 separate payments per month. I need to know if I should consolidate, and who I should talk to about that, contingent on question #2.

2. From what I understand of IBR's, your payment cannot be more than 10% of your income. What is not clear to me is if that is 10% per loan or 10% total owed. If its the latter, than consolidation should not matter. I also do not know if consolidation will mess up the IBR, though I don't know why it would.

3. I need to get the IBR paperwork in by mid-march. They want a copy of the first 2 pages of my most recently signed Federal income tax return. Can I send them my return from last year seeing as taxes do not need to be filed until April?

Thanks for any help and for having this thread. This stuff always confuses me and it doesn't help that I have little interest in financing. Right now it feels like it will be death by a 1000 papercuts. None of these loans individual monthly payments are too bad, but if they are all combined I would only have about $200 per month that isn't allocated towards student loans or rent.

nesbit37 fucked around with this message at 15:19 on Feb 6, 2011

GamingOdor
Jun 8, 2001
The stench of chips.

nesbit37 posted:

1. My original loan holder transferred some of my loans to Sallie Mae. I now have $24k in stafford and $3.6k in grad plus at the original lender and $31.5k in stafford loans at Sallie May. The amounts are from separate loans so, for example, Sallie Mae is actually looking for 4 separate payments per month. I need to know if I should consolidate, and who I should talk to about that, contingent on question #2.

2. From what I understand of IBR's, your payment cannot be more than 10% of your income. What is not clear to me is if that is 10% per loan or 10% total owed. If its the latter, than consolidation should not matter. I also do not know if consolidation will mess up the IBR, though I don't know why it would.

3. I need to get the IBR paperwork in by mid-march. They want a copy of the first 2 pages of my most recently signed Federal income tax return. Can I send them my return from last year seeing as taxes do not need to be filed until April?

Thanks for any help and for having this thread. This stuff always confuses me and it doesn't help that I have little interest in financing. Right now it feels like it will be death by a 1000 papercuts. None of these loans individual monthly payments are too bad, but if they are all combined I would only have about $200 per month that isn't allocated towards student loans or rent.

I have read a lot about IBR since I have crushing debt. IBR is basically meant for consolidation because if you don't commit to IBR, then all of your unpaid interest will be added to the principal. You are also kicked off IBR if your repayment amount is less than the 10 year repayment option - unpaid interest then capitalizes. If you aren't careful then you may just end up making interest-only payments for a number of years and then come out with a higher principal balance.

Consolidation will only mess up IBR if you have a private loan or Parent PLUS loan added in. Those loans completely disqualify you from IBR if they are consolidated. Not sure about the answer to your tax question but you do need to update them yearly. I have a feeling they will come asking about your 2010 taxes in a few months.

rivid
Jul 17, 2005

Matt 24:44
When I first started school I figured that I would be graduating in four years, so that's what I put on my loan forms. I now know that the current program I'm on may require me to spend five or more years on my undergrad. I was wondering if there's anything I need to do to get my payment time pushed back with the loan company so that it is in line with when I am actually graduating.

I would also like to bring something up. A while ago I posted in this thread about a private loan I could not get because of a technicality with me transferring schools and then not being able to get the loan again because a time period had passed. Not only could I not get my transcript from the last semester I spent at the previous school until my balance was paid off unless I signed a promissory note to pay $200 a month, they were also threatening to sell my debt to a collection agency unless I could make them monthly payments.
I wrote a letter to everyone involved including all of my representatives, both local and federal. I got responses from everyone about how this was a federal matter and only Senators John Kerry and Scott Brown could help me. Eventually I got their reply letters and eventually manila envelopes from each of them. The one from Kerry included the laws about student loan borrowing with the sections highlighted that applied to me. The one from Scott Brown contained the loan paperwork I needed from Sallie Mae with contact information of someone if I had any trouble getting the loan. I almost shat my pants. The loan cleared sometime last semester, and I wanted to follow up on what happened with my predicament. I also thought I should mention this here in case anybody might be in a similar situation like this and because I think it's an awesome story.

nesbit37
Dec 12, 2003
Emperor of Rome
(500 BC - 500 AD)

blar posted:

I have read a lot about IBR since I have crushing debt. IBR is basically meant for consolidation because if you don't commit to IBR, then all of your unpaid interest will be added to the principal. You are also kicked off IBR if your repayment amount is less than the 10 year repayment option - unpaid interest then capitalizes. If you aren't careful then you may just end up making interest-only payments for a number of years and then come out with a higher principal balance.

Consolidation will only mess up IBR if you have a private loan or Parent PLUS loan added in. Those loans completely disqualify you from IBR if they are consolidated. Not sure about the answer to your tax question but you do need to update them yearly. I have a feeling they will come asking about your 2010 taxes in a few months.

Thanks. I will definitely look into consolidation then. Is there somewhere else I should look for info on consolidation? I saw this link from earlier in the thread, anything else you have found useful?

http://www.loanconsolidation.ed.gov/

I plan on committing to IBR. I currently work for a non-profit as a type of archivist. I have been there for 1.5 years and, even if I do end up leaving, the nature of my profession means I will likely be in IBR qualifying organizations for most of my career.

LargeCardinal
Jan 31, 2011

by Ozma
Wiggy Marie, I was referred here by Petey, and I have a pretty personal situation I'd like to deal with over email if possible. You can reach me at destroyeroflogic at gmail dot com. Thanks!

Wiggy Marie
Jan 16, 2006

Meep!
nesbitt37, to add to what blar had said, PLUS and private loans can't be added to a federal consolidation, so you're good to go with that anyway. Also, right now Direct is the only lender doing consolidations for student loans, so they're your only option. They're not bad though, and they have the same types of benefits that private lenders used to.

rivid, nah. The school should actually receive automatic updates to keep you in school status, however if they don't send those updates there's an in-school deferment form available that you can have the registrar's office fill out to send in. However, if you have any private loans you will want to call to check on how long their deferments will last. Unlike federal loans, private loans can have a cap to the amount of time you're given.

Also, that's excellent news and I'm glad it worked out for you.

LargeCardinal, I have dropped you an email.

This thread was officially four years old in December last year. Crazy!

BIG SAD
Oct 26, 2006

Are you trying to Garfunkel me?
I'm going to assume the answer to my question is no, but here it is anyways.

I have several thousands in private student loan debt and a few thousand in federal. Is it possible to consolidate my private debt into federal debt. I ask because my company offers student loan forgiveness, but only on federal loans.

seacat
Dec 9, 2006

BIG SAD posted:

I'm going to assume the answer to my question is no, but here it is anyways.

I have several thousands in private student loan debt and a few thousand in federal. Is it possible to consolidate my private debt into federal debt. I ask because my company offers student loan forgiveness, but only on federal loans.
No, this is not possible and will never be possible for many reasons. Unless congress goes apeshit and passes some ultra-debt-slave relief, but that will never happen.

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BIG SAD
Oct 26, 2006

Are you trying to Garfunkel me?

seacat posted:

No, this is not possible and will never be possible for many reasons. Unless congress goes apeshit and passes some ultra-debt-slave relief, but that will never happen.

I figured as much, but wanted to be 100% sure. Oh well.

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