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What if you go back for a second bachelors? Does that count as graduate in terms of loans or year 5? And if it will take more than 5 total years of taking loans, am I not eligible for more Stafford loans? What if I fully pay back one of my current Stafford loans, will that allow me to take out another year worth?
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Jul 5, 2011 04:44
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Just wanted to follow up here about my earlier question - we spoke to our servicer (which is Direct Loans) and they told us to use the gross income from our paychecks for the current IBR application, and next year when they re-evaluate we will use teh AGI on the tax return. So pretty straight forward, if not the best answer for us.
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Jul 5, 2011 21:23
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abagofcheetos, unfortunately it does not. You're still considered an undergraduate and are subject to the same loan limits, and also you can't take out a GradPLUS loan. I'm in the same boat so I feel your pain on that one. Ashcans, thank you for the follow-up! It does seem SUPER weird that they don't have a system to allow for reassessment, especially with the layoffs and high unemployment going on right now. Did you ask for something along those lines?
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Jul 5, 2011 22:59
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Wiggy Marie posted:abagofcheetos, unfortunately it does not. You're still considered an undergraduate and are subject to the same loan limits, and also you can't take out a GradPLUS loan. I'm in the same boat so I feel your pain on that one. 
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Jul 6, 2011 00:06
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Ahoy wiggy, I am back! So I am applying for student loans (private, ugh, with Wells Fargo - my only option at the moment it seems) and am trying to choose an interest rate. For the next academic year, I am borrowing $8000 (I am receiving a tuition waiver of about $10,000 for both fall & spring). I am being offered an interest rate of either: Variable Rate at 9.24% Fixed Rate at 13.50% Please halp? Edit: according to the disclosure, it seems there is no maximum interest rate for the variable. Miranda fucked around with this message at 01:21 on Jul 6, 2011 |
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Jul 6, 2011 01:18
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The fixed rate sucks but will likely be better for you because it can't increase. When they say there's no cap on the variable rate, they do mean NO cap. Just think of it as a credit card: would you prefer a fixed or variable rate? Also, ask if the fixed rate stays regardless of what happens (such as, say, a late payment). It could be revoked at the first late payment or something, which would be good to be aware of. abagofcheetos, that might actually work in your favour. Since you didn't get much the first go-round, that means you have the rest available to you now. It won't be a huge amount but any little bit should help!
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Jul 6, 2011 01:36
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Wiggy Marie posted:abagofcheetos, that might actually work in your favour. Since you didn't get much the first go-round, that means you have the rest available to you now. It won't be a huge amount but any little bit should help!
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Jul 6, 2011 02:22
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Wiggy Marie posted:Ashcans, thank you for the follow-up! It does seem SUPER weird that they don't have a system to allow for reassessment, especially with the layoffs and high unemployment going on right now. Did you ask for something along those lines? This is our first time applying for IBR (we consolidated previously, which helped, and now we wanted to try and get the additional relief of IBR). My wife is the one who called up and asked, but she explained our situation and asked what value they would use to evaluate our income if the AGI was no longer accurate. It's possible the person she spoke to just gave her a wobbly answer or that she didn't use the exact words needed, but even if they evaluate my gross it should help us considerably, and we can revalue once we file taxes next year.
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Jul 6, 2011 02:58
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Best of luck to you! I hope it worked out for you both!
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Jul 6, 2011 03:30
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Problemo: I called Citibank last week to check on the status of my IBR application for Stafford loans, and it was successful! They said next month's statement would be the first with a lowered payment. But oh no! I just received an email saying Sallie Mae bought out my Stafford loans. Do I have to re-apply for IBR?
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Jul 10, 2011 05:03
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I think you might, actually. It sounds like the loans were put through the PUT program, which means they get "put" with the Department of Ed. If the letter had a Sallie number on it, called immediately and ask if your IBR carried over or if you'll need to resubmit. You may also be able to log in and check on that on their website.
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Jul 10, 2011 13:53
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Ashcans posted:This is our first time applying for IBR (we consolidated previously, which helped, and now we wanted to try and get the additional relief of IBR). My wife is the one who called up and asked, but she explained our situation and asked what value they would use to evaluate our income if the AGI was no longer accurate. That's quite the ripoff if they are using your gross income instead of your AGI. Why don't you use your paychecks to estimate your AGI and give them that? I would argue that point since it may save you a lot of money month to month.
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Jul 10, 2011 16:22
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blar posted:That's quite the ripoff if they are using your gross income instead of your AGI. Why don't you use your paychecks to estimate your AGI and give them that? I would argue that point since it may save you a lot of money month to month. The Alt doc form would allow the IBR to be based off of current income based on paychecks (though the process will be even more difficult if consolidated jointly, or if taxes are filed jointly) but I'd really go with whatever would be lower, either 1040 AGI, or the current paychecks. Eugene Jerome posted:Problemo: You almost certainly will, but it's not too much of a problem. Have them put your account into a temporary forbearance if you have the forb time, call them up to see where to send your signed and dated 1040 (or whatever other supporting documents you used) and send it in ASAP. If you've found out that you've already qualified, that's the biggest part of the battle. Now all you have to do is send in your info as soon as you can, and you'll be able to get it applied. And enjoy their call center, I've heard they're pretty terrible. Btw, I'm wondering about horror stories about financial aid staffers, if we can talk about it and not get in big trouble with the government. I spoke with someone who received more money from loans than they needed, and they were told by their schools financial aid office to either return the money or never use it, either way they wouldn't owe the money. It was very interesting to tell someone that they had thousands of dollars in their desk drawer to pay off their loans, all they needed to do was get the school to reauthorize the checks and they'd be able to pay thousands of dollars towards their debt. I felt pretty great about being able to tell someone that they had thousands of dollars they didn't know they actually had.
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Jul 10, 2011 20:13
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So, I've been going through a rough time getting started out of grad school, and had a time last year where I wasn't able to pay my loans off because of my job being too crappy. Anyway, in January I went back to school to take some classes part time to both try and get some marketable skills as well as to stave off the loans in the meantime. Long story short, I think my Stafford loan from undergrad went into default. Even though it's on educational hold now, I am currently making enough that I could do that rehabilitation for it, and I definitely want to do that. But I have a few concerns or questions I guess since there's no one in my life that can answer these things for me so any help would be much appreciated, since I'm a complete idiot. First off, let's say that some job did offer me a full-time position tomorrow. When they ran a credit check on me, is being in default on a loan enough of a reason for someone to not hire you? Or do you need to actually file bankruptcy or what? Additionally, let's say that I got the ball rolling this week on doing that rehab on my loan, and then someone offered me a good job in a few weeks. Would it show up on my credit that I'm doing the rehab and working towards it or is it going to say I shouldn't be trusted at all until I finish the rehab in a year. Basically I'm looking for someone who might have a little insight on how this works, because no one has ever taught me anything about this stuff, and my parents super-overreact to everything all the time, so I can't ask them or let them know I'm in default.
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Jul 10, 2011 22:09
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If it defaulted and was sold to the guarantor, it wouldn't be on a hold because guarantors don't do those - you must do rehab in order to get out of the guarantor's books. If it defaulted and then you started school at least half-time, you're no longer past due but the default stays on your record. What you need to do first is contact your servicer and verify the status of your loan, then contact the guarantor and work with them. As for employers checking credit, I'm not sure how they will react to seeing a default on your credit score. The best thing you can do is ask if they run a credit check and tell them immediately what you have on it (defaulted loans). Explain your situation and be upfront. That way it can't blindside them when they pull it, IF they pull it. Pull your own report and be prepared - annualcreditreport.com is your friend!
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Jul 10, 2011 22:22
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Wiggy Marie posted:If it defaulted and then you started school at least half-time, you're no longer past due but the default stays on your record. What you need to do first is contact your servicer and verify the status of your loan, then contact the guarantor and work with them. I did start school half time, and the last bill I got from them listed it as on hold for education. I honestly didn't even think or realize it might be in default until I went to get a transcript from my undergrad for some requirement at school and it listed the default as a hold on my transcript a week or so ago. It's really all very confusing... So if I contact the loan servicer they should be able to point me in the direction of who I should call regarding rehabilitating it then. Thank you. EDIT: Weirdly my transcript, which I just checked, isn't even showing the default anymore, nor is there a hold on my account. Maybe (hopefully, oh god) I managed to pay them just in time or something. Anyway I shall call them tomorrow and see. hallo spacedog fucked around with this message at 22:41 on Jul 10, 2011 |
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Jul 10, 2011 22:38
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Basically, loans are considered defaulted at 270 days past due, however they're normally not sold to the guarantor for a while after that. So it's possible to default without going into hard collections immediately. Hope everything works out for you!
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Jul 10, 2011 23:45
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Wiggy Marie posted:Basically, loans are considered defaulted at 270 days past due, however they're \ If FFELP loans. If it's a FDLP loan, it's 365 days.
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Jul 11, 2011 01:24
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Wiggy Marie posted:Basically, loans are considered defaulted at 270 days past due, however they're normally not sold to the guarantor for a while after that. So it's possible to default without going into hard collections immediately. Hope everything works out for you! Thank you so much for your help.
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Jul 11, 2011 01:45
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The hell, how could anyone default on their loans if they've got a max of 270 days?
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Jul 11, 2011 02:46
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Most people don't realize that they can pause their payments. You'd cry to see how many of our own borrowers are paid off by guarantors without ever having used a day of their forbearance/deferment time.
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Jul 11, 2011 02:49
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Wiggy Marie posted:That seems more like a net/browser/computer issue. I'm not much good at troubleshooting online It's still doing it, but I found the trick: Switch to the Spanish interface, and it works!
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Jul 11, 2011 03:22
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Wiggy Marie posted:Most people don't realize that they can pause their payments. You'd cry to see how many of our own borrowers are paid off by guarantors without ever having used a day of their forbearance/deferment time. Or that blame it all on not getting their statement, and expect us to go 'Oh, you didn't get your statement even though you signed a promissory note promising to make your payments on time no matter what? Totally our fault, you don't have to pay.' No. You either pay student loans on your own volition, or you let the government garnish your wages and take your tax returns. Those are your only two options, unless you are 100% will never, ever be able to work or die. On the other hand, if you just call us or go the website, I can virtually guarantee that we have some solution for you, whether it's a postponement of payments or a reduction of payment. It really is that easy.
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Jul 12, 2011 03:52
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I recently graduated with my bachelors. I am looking at working for a year to two at the max and then returning to school to pursue graduate studies. I would have went straight from undergrad to grad, but the wait has allowed me to focus and really strengthen my resume. My question is about loan consolidation. I only have stafford loans (subsidized and unsubsidized). After I consolidate my loans, what happens when I go back to school. Do they get put on deferral, does interest accrue? I am looking to go into a fully funded program, so I could set aside enough from work to keep up with payments while in school or at least cover interest. I am also fortunate to have the help of wonderful parents. But if the loans go into deferral with no interest accruing that would be awesome since then I would owe less when I got out thanks to inflation!
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Jul 16, 2011 04:01
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Effexxor, I feel your pain, but please keep customer service representative complaints out because I want anyone to feel comfortable asking anything. Some people just plain don't know how these loan payments work, regardless of how obvious it might seem to you or me. Tacos Are Good, as long as you are at least half-time with a Title IV school yes, they will go right back into deferment. The subsidized portion of the consolidation will not accrue interest but the unsubsidized portion will continue to, just like it did in undergrad. The only difference will be your fixed interest rate.
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Jul 17, 2011 01:11
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Thanks. I was looking at budgeting so that I could pay off all of my unsubsidized before I returned to school. Once I consolidate can I pay off more of one part than the other (sub vs unsub)? Say put huge lump sum to completely pay off the unsubsidized right before I return to school, so I will not have any interest accruing while at school. I should have enough saved up from work to cover it by then. It would be great to come out of graduate school owing just my subsidized undergraduate stafford loans without compounding interest, which after that many years thanks to inflation would result into owing significantly less in real dollar terms. On the other hand the thought of those unsubsidized loans growing that whole time scares me, hence I want to get them taken care of asap.
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Jul 17, 2011 01:27
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Once you've consolidated, you can't pay toward one portion over the other*, however any payments you make will always satisfy interest before anything. *You might still be able to do this if they servicer has their website set up in a sneaky way to allow you to make payments to one portion (sub vs. unsub) of the loan over the other, however it's not actually a service we can offer because the Government says it's wrong!
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Jul 17, 2011 15:12
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I recently applied for consolidation/IBR through Dept of Education. 30 days later I'm still in cert status, ie waiting for Sallie Mae to send the payoff information to the Dept of Education. Is my assumption correct that Sallie Mae will take it's sweet time with this process?
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Jul 17, 2011 16:03
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Dantu posted:I recently applied for consolidation/IBR through Dept of Education. 30 days later I'm still in cert status, ie waiting for Sallie Mae to send the payoff information to the Dept of Education. Yes. They want to collect the daily interest accruing on your account before the Department of Education pays them off. Sallie Mae will give them a call the day before their deadline or they might "not have received the call" from Education. You should keep calling your consolidation company to keep on top of things because it will be your problem if Sallie Mae sends you a bill.
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Jul 17, 2011 17:35
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blar is correct, make sure to call and check up on the process often. At least every 2-3 days. Yes it takes that much nagging. Also, the Dept of Ed is notoriously slow, so nagging will help them stop dragging their feet too.
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Jul 17, 2011 19:03
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Well in that case I may just put off consolidation. Since the loans are still listed separately they all still have a min $50 each. Man that is annoying and much higher than I would be paying if they were subsidized. Maybe I should just consolidate my subsidized loans only to lower the total payment. Is that a common thing to do? All but one of the loans (sub and unsub) is with the same lender. Also when loanconsolidation.ed.gov, it seems to give various year of payment instead of just ten years. I was under the impression stafford loans where supposed to take ten years to pay off, put it is giving me payment estimates based off of 15 and 20 years. Obviously I could just pay more. I built an amortization table in excel to make sure I wasn't missing something. Tacos Are Good fucked around with this message at 03:16 on Jul 18, 2011 |
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Jul 18, 2011 03:04
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I posted this in The Goon Doctor but this is probably a better thread. I just got accepted off the waitlist for UCLA like a few days ago and I'm working on my financial aid forms ASAP. UCLA gives me two options. Option A - Apply for School of Medicine need-based scholarships and loans, in addition to Federal Direct Loans. With this option you're required to provide parent information on the Need Access Application, and other application components. Option B - Apply only for Federal Direct Loans (and Grad Plus); with this option you are not required to complete Need Access or provide parent info on any part of the application. My parents are relatively well off (upper middle class. My dad recently quit his engineering job and became a pastor but he has quite a bit in savings) but aren't really going to contribute towards my medical school tuition. They paid my way through undergrad though so I have no debt. Should I include my parent's financial info or just my own or will it not really even matter?
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Jul 18, 2011 06:54
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I've got a question about the PLUS loan, about the payment; although the parent takes out the loan, and it's in their name, is it the student who ultimately pays it back and the parent responsible if you miss a payment? My gut feeling tells me it's the parent's responsibility though, which is not helping my case to my father to get just one PLUS loan instead of throwing me into the pit of private loan despair. The loan amount is relatively small in any case, only about $5,000 or so, so if I have to take that option it might not be absolutely horrible. Just my luck for returning to university when I just barely didn't qualify as independent and my dad married a finance lawyer.  Anyway, I've checked on finaid.org, where it says something to the effect that students can make payments on a PLUS loan, but it's not specific at all about how, just that one can. Trying to get my father to agree to this is like trying to fight Goliath with rubber bands, but I also know that if I can make a good case about how I'd be the one paying, he'd less hesitant.
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Jul 18, 2011 19:26
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Tacos Are Good, dne of the perks of consolidation is that you have the option of extending your repayment term. You are correct that unconsolidated, all federal loans default to ten years or less. However, when you consolidate into a higher balance, the loan term may be extended up to 30 years (depends on the amount you consolidate). You can still pay above the monthly amount to pay them off faster, but you're not obligated to. The minimum payment on any loan is $50, so that's really common, but normally it's per account as a minimum, not per loan. You can always look into other repayment options if you feel that consolidation isn't for you. supercow, congratulations! That is an interesting system. If they're not going to be putting much into it, it probably isn't a bad idea to not include them. That might be a good question to ask them to see how involved they want to be in this process. GradPLUS loans are still federal loans so that's not a terrible option for you to take. Reverend Cheddar, you are correct. A lot of kids make a deal with their parents to pay those back, but that in no way obligates the kid to do it - the PLUS loan is forever in the parent's name and attached to the parent's credit. It's a word of honor thing, and obviously that can go pretty wrong unless your parent trusts you and you are worthy of that trust! To make payments to them, basically you just go online, call and mail a payment to the account. You parent can give you 3rd party authorization on the account to get information, which would allow you to call and ask questions on the account.
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Jul 19, 2011 00:17
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Good thing I called, apparently I picked the wrong Sallie Mae, out of several Sallie Mae's that pop up on the application. Guess I'm back at day zero. 
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Jul 19, 2011 12:53
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Hello, I have a couple dumb questions! I work two jobs right now and want to get my bachelors degree. I could take maybe 12 credit hours if I took a couple nights off from my second job. I want to get this poo poo done though, so I need to take more nights off and take more classes, aka spend $$. So the questions: 1. If I end up leaving my second job to go to school full time, do I apply for the loan before or after? I don't want to quit my job and not get the loan. 2. A friend says he gets the max loan amount and after he pays for classes, spends it on computers and clothes. Is this legal? It would be a big help if possible, I can support myself with just one job but it would be hard, and I'd have little room for error. A cushion would be nice. 3. Are federal loans the way to go?
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Jul 22, 2011 06:00
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TheManWithNoName posted:Hello, I have a couple dumb questions! 1. Before - always secure your future before cutting ties if you can help it. 2. Yes this is generally legal but a very poor idea. You want to minimize your loans, not maximize them. For federal loans: quote:You may use the money you receive only to pay for education expenses at the school that awarded your loan. Education expenses include school charges such as tuition; room and board; fees; books; supplies; equipment; dependent childcare expenses; transportation; and rental or purchase of a personal computer. Private loans will have their own terms. 3. The subsidized loans in particular should be at the top of your list. Edit: Also, for someone in your position taking community college courses and then transferring them to a four year school later is not only smart, it's almost stupid not to do it for cost savings even if you're talking your resident state school. baquerd fucked around with this message at 14:01 on Jul 22, 2011 |
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Jul 22, 2011 13:58
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I'm getting married at the end of August (earlier in thread). I'm going to fill out the FAFSA the day after the wedding and get my school's financial aid process started. I have confirmed multiple times that I will be eligible for the Pell Grant and other aid and that it will not have run out. Also there are stafford loans. I can't get any of this until a week to a month after I fill out Fafsa (according to financial aid office). Fiance's job doesn't start until we get back from honeymoon. We will be fine once the job and financial aid starts, but getting there is going to be tricky. So looking at my current money situation I think I need to take out a private loan to buffer my way until then. Probably between 2000-3000. What would be the best way of doing this? I can probably pay it all back in September with Financial aid/subsidized stafford loans.
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Jul 22, 2011 21:09
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baquerd posted:1. Before - always secure your future before cutting ties if you can help it. Yeah I'm definitely going the CC route at first. Do Stafford loans or Pell grants apply to summer classes? Should I just take out the max now and save it for summer, or is it going to be available to me for summer?
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Jul 22, 2011 21:51
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Moved from the College Advice Megathread on their advice. I need to know about options for paying for school beyond the grants and subsidized loans/work-study that the school awards me. Specifically, I want to know if the school can prevent me from taking out additional loans. I'm attending UC Berkeley in the fall as an undergraduate transfer student. They've awarded me grants and subsidized federal loans (all need-based) to cover what they set as a budget, which is great. However, their budget for living expenses falls short of what I need in my situation by a fair margin (I need about 70% more than their budget for room, board and all other expenses is set at.) I had planned to take either unsubsidized federal loans, if I could get them, or outside loans if not. However, I've had the chance to briefly talk to two financial aid office people, and both shut me down as soon as I mentioned additional loans and told me that it wasn't possible at all. They said the budget is locked, and I can only get money up to that budget. I'm not sure if they're misunderstanding me, and they think I want more subsidized federal loans, or if they really mean that it's impossible to get any more money at all, from anywhere. Can the school prevent me from getting outside loans? What are my options for financing here? I'm getting pretty worried, so any idea on where to start looking would be great.
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Jul 23, 2011 23:09
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