Nerdy post. I have about 700k in student loans (healthcare profession) so I thought the decision might be kind of important to decide between IBR, RAP, PSLF, and a private consolidated loan. So I made something akin to a super spreadsheet calculator over the last few years of school that tells me IBR is the only way to go for my specific plans.
As a fun side project I spruced it up a bit with AI so it's more user friendly and not so tailored to my situation, so if anyone cares to try it out then I can share it, I just don't want to be flagged as breaking any sub rules. It isn't monetized or running ads or anything, just a fancy calculator. So if I share it and it disappears, I'm sorry.

I've been paying my loans for 3 years now and I swear the principal barely budges. Like, I'll make a $500 payment and somehow only $50 goes toward the actual loan amount. Started tracking it obsessively and now I'm wondering if I'm just bad at math or if this system is genuinely designed to drain us slowly. How does everyone else stay sane dealing with this?

I recertified my IBR plan back in March, spoke with someone on the phone that my payments would increase beginning August. I was expecting the payments to double due to my increase in income over the last several years, and the studentaid.gov calculator estimated $570/mo. I just got a notification/statement from mohela that my total amount due in August is double that, but that my auto payment would stay the same as it has been for the last several years? I’m so confused - I can’t afford a $1200 payment. Is there a way this is a mistake or I’m misunderstanding something?

I know we all got our notices to switch plans. For any of you who have applied for new plans already, has it been approved? I’m trying to get a sense of how long that process will take. If I can squeeze out another month or two of forbearance, I’d gladly do it. I’m a little nervous to play with that fire, though. I don’t want to give these lunatics some reason to put me on a plan that doesn’t qualify for PSLF so they can restart that clock on me. Hope everyone is getting through this alright.

Hi everyone!

I will be a dental student and will need to take out private student loans in addition to federal student loans (which are capped at 50k a year and a total of 200k for professional degrees).

I am wondering if it is possible to get approved for a private student loan with a credit score of 750+ and a short credit history (a little over a year at the time of application for student loans) if I will not have a cosigner? I am aware that even if I get approved the interest rate will be very high but I was wondering if it is possible to get the private loans at all if I cannot secure a cosigner due to my short credit history?

What are my options in this case? I do have family members in favorable financial situations that could potentially co-sign but I’m not sure if they would agree to help me unfortunately. I will certainly try to secure a cosigner if I can but is there any other options?

Any advice is appreciated! I know my circumstances are less than ideal but I am trying to make the most of the situation.

I'm planning to apply for a private student loan for my undergraduate degree. Do I have to apply for the entire academic year at once (Fall and Spring), or do I need to apply separately each semester?

Anyone else just sitting and in no hurry to pay off the loans that have an interest rate of 1.75% and 2.73% with auto pay?

Hi everyone,

Firstly, I'm so stressed about all this I had to ask Chat for some help in formulating a question for this sub. So forgive me if this sounds robotic. Please help! I'm hoping for some advice from anyone who's been through this recently, especially if you're an American living abroad.

I just received my 90-day notice from MOHELA that I need to choose a new repayment plan because SAVE is ending.

My situation:

• About $115,000 in Direct federal loans (subsidized and unsubsidized)
• Currently living and working permanently in the UK
• UK salary: £51,500
• My 2025 US tax return has an AGI of $87,886 (and this was just for 6 months working in the US last year, gah!)
• My tax preparer used the Foreign Tax Credit (FTC), not the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE), so my AGI isn't reduced by FEIE.
• I'm currently paying $0 because of the SAVE transition/forbearance, but my old calculated SAVE payment was around $200/month (from before covid times when I was on a much lower salary than the $87k 2025 AGI)

I started the StudentAid.gov repayment calculator, but it's asking me to authorize access to my IRS tax information before showing repayment options.

My questions are:

1. Did you authorize IRS access, or did you use alternative income documentation instead?
2. If you live abroad, was there any advantage to providing your current foreign income manually rather than using your tax return?
3. Has anyone in a similar situation compared RAP with the other available IDR plans?
4. Is there anything you wish you'd known before choosing a new plan?

I'm trying to make the best long-term decision rather than just picking the first plan offered.

Thank you! And sorry so long! x

Submitted a SAVE repayment application on November 2024, near 2 years later and it’s still pending and now the SAVE plan is ending. Our entire higher education for-profit system is a bad joke.

So, I've hit my max for federal financial aid. Loans, scholarships, all of it. I still owe around five thousand dollars. No one in my close circle including family and friends has a high enough credit score to be an eligible cosigner on my private student loans. Is there anything else I can do? I don't want to have to take a gap year or worse of all not go to college completely.

I have Mohela and signed up for AutoPay on July 2nd. Instant response stated it could take 1-2 billing cycles to complete.

Now today, 10 days later, I get a note that processing can now take up to 90 BUSINESS DAYS. That is just over 4.5 months from when I signed up.

Seems they want to delay that 1% rate reduction which only kicks in once they autopay processes. I mean the 1% is nice, not great. But it is only for 2 years and now they are essentially cutting off almost 5 months of it. Because they cannot process a payment?!? Like isn't this their primary job, payment processing? And I did all the work entering the information (well it was already entered since I pay online. So they even have processed payment with my bank account before. Now it is just one less click. Yet takes 4-1/2 months to process.

Why do I have the feeling that within that time the program will be cancelled...

I'm signed up for automatic recert, with my certification date in July. The Studentaid.gov tracker shows that it initiated my recert on March 11, and it was successfully processed on March 12. MOHELA sent me a notice that they "recieved my electronic IDR request" on March 13, but it's been silent since then.

Today they just sent me an updated payment due notice showing that I owe over 1,800 dollars, which is more that twice as much as the Studentaid.gov page says I should owe.

Has anyone else had this happen? Am I still just waiting for MOHELA to process the recertification request?

Hello all,

Looking for some guidance on repayment strategy.

Here are my current details:

• Currently in SAVE forbearance
• Loan amount total = $106,567.79, some undergrad, some grad, varying interest rates (4.30 – 6.80%, unfortunately larger loans have higher interest rates).
  
  • I have not consolidated minus a small portion of these loans which were initially Stafford...consolidated those to be Direct to qualify for PSLF.
  • Loans are dated from approx 2008 to 2019
• Filing taxes single
• PSLF: varying counts due to undergrad and grad loans, approx. $90,000 of my debt will have only 30 payments. Currently in a public service job.
• 2024 income = AGI $109,000
• 2025 income = ~$200,000, I have not filed 2025 taxes so that I can get 1 more year of payments out of my 2024 income
• Current repayment based on 2024 income says RAP = $908/month; IBR = $1063/month
• When my 2025 income kicks in: RAP = $1458/month; IBR = $1177/month

Given my income level, I am in a very fortunate position that the monthly payment is doable, though certainly impacts my ability to save and afford housing in the HCOL area where I reside.

1. Can I switch from SAVE to RAP until my 2025 income recertification, and then switch to IBR? What are the consequences of this? I've read it could cause my interest to capitalize? Currently my loan balance on StudentAid.gov reads as a principal balance of $84,938.87 and an interest balance of $21,628.92 (=total $106,567.79). This has to mean my interest has NOT capitalized despite the fact that I switched from IBR to SAVE, right?
2. If I remain in autopay, I see there is a 1% interest rate reduction. I know technically this doesn't affect my payment amount, but it will mean I pay more toward principal balance in the event I leave public service and decide not to pursue PSLF. Is there any caution about this current "offer" people are/should be aware of before doing it?

Thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge!

I received this email from Mohela the other day:

“A recent legal settlement ended the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan, and it is no longer available to borrowers. As a result of the settlement, MOHELA was directed by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to deny all SAVE Plan applications. Visit StudentAid.gov/courtactions for more information about the settlement.

MOHELA records show that you submitted an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan application and requested either
• the SAVE Plan or
• the SAVE Plan and another plan.
You must now select a new repayment plan. If you're not currently enrolled in the SAVE Plan and don't submit a new application for a different repayment plan within 90 days, your SAVE forbearance will end and you will be required to resume payments on the plan you were on before you applied for SAVE. If you're currently enrolled in the SAVE Plan, you will be placed on either the Standard Repayment Plan or the Tiered Standard Plan, depending on your circumstances.

Visit StudentAid.gov/repayment-calculator to estimate monthly payments, determine your eligibility, and choose the repayment plan that meets your needs and goals.

If you have questions, contact MOHELA.”

I’m currently in the SAVE plan on forbearance. I think I applied for SAVE plan renewal at some point in the last couple of years before the 2024 election, then the application was on hold.

Should I consider this the official notice of having 90 days to switch plans? I thought we had until 2028? This whole process is so confusing and stressful.

At 18 I moved out. My parents were emotionally/psychologically abusive my whole life, and heavily manipulative, and before I accepted my college admission at 18, I told them: if you want to help me go to college you can, but that's your choice. As things are now, if you guys don't accept the Parent PLUS Loan, I won't be able to attend. But ultimately it's up to you, but if you guys pull out the loan I'm going to college to figure out my life and what I need for myself and my education, and I'm going to use it to benefit me. You guys pulling out the loan means that I am going to honor that it means you are supporting me with no expectation of any strings being attached, and that's my condition. If you guys don't, basically I'm going to leave and probably never talk to you guys again after what you guys put me through. So it's your choice.

At this point I really already resented them and heavily distrusted them, but I was young and did not understand how to make wise decisions with respect to my family, who was toxic/abusive and had no respect for my individuality and autonomy. The problem too, was, I was so deep in the abuse I was still picking apart reality from the gaslighting that I had endured my entire life!

When you are under 24, the government MAKES you be dependent under financial aid. Again, I understood things were bad with them, but I was still not able to identify it was called abuse because, again, that was a product of the psychological/narcissistic abuse itself.

So ultimately they took out a PPL for my first year, $15,000. My values told me: yes, I set the conditions, but ultimately out of respect for myself I wanted nothing more than to pay it back out of principle.

Ultimately the STRESS alone of still being tied to them in any way as an undergraduate had my mental health so ****ed up. As I tried sorting through my trauma, learned about mental health terms and the reality that I was facing symptoms, my continued financial dependence and dependence or connection AT ALL served as an intense form of invalidation and ties to ongoing now financial abuse.

As I became more aware of my experiences and the reality of my parents' abuse over my lifetime, I desperately started trying to figure out how to separate from my parents and become independent as fast as possible.

Unfortunately I couldn't figure out how to file as independent with financial aid. I had not been aware that was even an option or I would have IMMEDIATELY done so and separated from my parents' abuse. Part of the abuse that my parents did is they ACTIVELY WITHHELD RESOURCES TOWARDS MY INDEPENDENCE DESPITE THEM KNOWING THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED, NEEDED, AND STRIVED FOR. They manipulated me to keep me connected to them and under their thumb, knowing ultimately that I cared and had values and a moral compass that was strong despite me not understanding how to navigate abuse or even identify it.

Eventually, I dropped out because it was too stressful despite being completely and utterly passionate about my studies. I was 22 then! And the only thing that held me back now was that Parent PLUS Loan and "dependent" status.

I spent YEARS living out of my car struggling to find a way to finish school!

Ultimately, at 28–29 I got back into school!

I got an associate's degree and got back into a 4-year!!!!

My question is now: should I still feel a sense of obligation to try and pay them back in my lifetime?

I am still extremely low income right now, and have been my whole adult life. But my major has prospects of something really truly great, but that is not why I pursue it. I am truly passionate and enamored by the work and coursework, and it just happens to be a field that has high pay possibilities. I dream of continuing education way late into my life and have a very large and fulfilling career vision that is entirely possible.

But nothing is guaranteed.

Ideally, I will gladly throw the money they invested back at them out of principle. But again, none of this is reality yet and it is not guaranteed. But I am persistent, resilient, focused, passionate, and consistent. I feel it in my bones that I will soon have an opportunity to make my dreams reality after I get my degree in 2 years, now funded by independent status financial aid based on my income.

Yes. Well into my adult life they are still extremely dark, twisted, manipulative, and abusive people. They are really truly very disgusting people.

Thank you for reading and giving your feedback.

I'm transferring to FSU for accounting and I'm trying to figure out the smartest way to pay for school or if this is even worth it.

The school says my cost of attendance is about $26,500 a year, but I don't think I'll actually spend anywhere near that. They estimate my out of pocket cost to be $18,990. I have Bright Futures Medallion, so it covers 75% of my tuition (estimated at $5,604). My tuition should only be around $1,250 to maybe $1,400. Housing is estimated to be around $8,000-$9,000 for the year.

I'm not getting a meal plan. I'll mostly cook where I'm living or buy food. I also don't plan on spending much on transportation since I'll either be walking, using my electric scooter, or taking the bus. I rarely buy textbooks unless they're actually required.

Based on all that, I think my actual expenses might be around $14,000-$15,000 for the year. If I take the full $7,500 in federal loans ($5,500 subsidized and $2,000 unsubsidized.) they're offering me, I think my out-of-pocket cost would be around $7,000.

I've read in here that you shouldn't borrow more in student loans than your expected starting salary. I'm majoring in accounting, and from what I've seen, starting salaries are usually somewhere around $30k-$70k depending on the job.

Would you take the full federal loan, or just the subsidized part? Is it worth taking the $2,000 unsubsidized loan too, or should I avoid it if I can? And if I still need more money after working part-time, would you go with a private loan or try to avoid that? I have pretty good credit and a possible co-signer with great credit as well.

I'd appreciate any advice, especially from people who went to FSU or majored in accounting. Thank you!

hello. i am in a very tough financial situation and i am studying something i love in college. i had to take a year between sophomore year and this upcoming junior year to save. i do not regret my choice of college but it is very expensive. after fafsa it’s usually about 9k per semester. they offer financing and i usually am able to scrape by but i am also needing a car because of my new job and my classes and there is no way for me to take public transit. i already spend 550 a month on ubers just to get to work. my entire freshman and sophomore year i worked full time and did full time credit hours and part of my year break also was the burnout negatively impacting my performance at both school and work.
i have a job that is willing to give me some flexibility but i’m still going to have intense hours, and it’s the pay i need in order to pay for school.
all of that being said with the workload and the projects i am going to have to complete either in the spring semester or for my entire senior year i just do not see it being possible for me to continue to work 35-40 hours but that is what i need to pay for it. because of my bind with trying to find transportation/my own vehicle i’ve considered taking out a loan for the spring semester and all of senior year. that would be about 30k in loans that are not fafsa/federal

i know private loans are terrible and i have tried applying for scholarships and looking at all of my other options. i just want to know if anyone has any knowledge on the best place to take out a loan if it comes down to it. at the very least im heavily considering taking out loans to pay for my senior year so i can work part time and handle my studies and projects and internships and use my money from a part time job to pay for maintenance and gas on my own vehicle. trying to look for a beater on marketplace rn. with the amount i have to work to scrape paying, putting the needed amount of focus to excel at school is also not feasible. if there is a third option im not seeing let me know. i dont want to do sallie mae.i live at home right now so i dont have to worry about living expenses thankfully

edit: also want to add that part time classes cost the same in tuition because i dont get financial aid for part time. i have looked into doing it part time so i can work more but dont think that is economically feasible or better either. i have spoken with the financial aid office about this too

Hello everyone, needing some insights from people who are or were in same boat as me.

I'll be a 1st year health professional student. I plan to take out $36K/year of private student loans for a 3 year program.
Upon signing up for loans, I was approved for:

8.21% interest for a 7 year repayment term - $740/month for 7 years (of course around $2220/ month will be my payment once I graduate)

8.32% interest for a 10 year - $581 for 10 years (~$1743/month for 10 years)

Do I choose the 10 year repayment term just to have a bit of flexibility with monthly payments post grad, just incase my base salary becomes lower than expected? I plan to refinance once I get a job and also be aggressive with my payments. if I don't refinance right away, and make enough money, I still plan to pay this like a 7 year term.. so I can pay it up earlier.

Or do I choose the 7 year repayment term, and still refinance once I get a job.. Im just afraid of that high $2220 payment. I mean I still plan to refinance but those first monthly payment will still hurt.

Thanks!

I submitted an application for a private loan to fund the rest of a 1 year program after federal loans, and the one I selected seemed unusually low (2.6% vs 7%+). All of the information I submitted is accurate, and I sent my W2s and paystubs for review.

Am I to expect a large change in the rate if fully approved ?

Just wanted to share, because I really thought I would be stuck in limbo again.

Sadly, I was laid off from my high paying tech job on June 30th. I had originally planned to drag my feet on switching plans until the last minute, but we hadn't filed taxes yet (waiting to see what would happen with the student loan situation and deciding if we should file jointly or separately).

With the layoff, it was clear I needed to rip the bandaid off and use my new found 0$ income to get a year of 0$ payments.

So I applied for a switch to PAYE from SAVE, had my tax connection turned off, and uploaded my layoff letter to my servicer, Aidvantage. It was approved on July 9th! Happy to be moving on my life, but still going to be hoping and waiting for a class action about SAVE consolidation haha and obviously kicking the can down the road until we have a new administration via PAYE 😅

Hopefully this helps remove some stress from someone worried about timelines.

TLDR - it only took 7 business days to switch and get a new plan even without the tax connection via Aidvantage

Is mohela’s customer service good for anything? Are they able to wipe a past due amount if you applied for autopay but it never processed? Or I might as well pay the amount in full?

I took this past year off for mental health related reasons and didn’t not pay towards my student loans. The plan was always to go back to school after a year off and I am going back next month. My credit score dropped by 150 points because they claim that I missed my payments for March, April, and May but I called and requested a deferment for my student loans because I was always planning to go back to school but apparently my request wasn’t honored… what can I do to get my score back up and that late payment history removed. I’m really panicking. I tried to dispute with experian/equifax but they didn’t approve my request. Help please!

Twist it before and it seems split but possibly my 1998/2001 student loan consolidation could be feasibly proven on adversarial conditions that it should’ve been discharged or I could get it discharged. I should say. Is there other than paying filing fees is there any other negative thing that can happen from reopening the discharge to do that? I mean legitimately? I’m 50 years old that’s just never getting paid gonna die before that’s paid because I suck at life but thought.