Confused About Student Loans? As a Student Loan Expert, Here Are My Top Tips for Taking Control of Your Debt

CNET

9 hours ago

Regardless of your situation, there are ways to take charge of your student loans.
Getty Images/Zooey Liao/CNET
Student loan policies have changed swiftly over the past year. After a five-year payment pause, it's understandable if you're not sure what's happening with your student loans.
Between a barrage of news about the end of the Saving on a Valuable Education plan and the ramp-up of wage garnishment efforts, there's a lot to keep track of.
I get it. I'm a student loan policy expert who's worked in the industry for more than 15 years, so I know the past few years have been trying for borrowers. It's easy to feel like everything happening with student loans is out of your hands.
There's still time for you to take charge of your student loans, and you don't need to let it all overwhelm you. Follow my six recommendations to get yourself back on track and in control.
Read more: SAVE Student Loan Borrowers Likely Won't Make Payments This Year, but Should Do This One Thing Now
Find out your student loan balance
Do you know how much you owe in total on your student loans? It's a question that many borrowers can't answer when I ask them. You might have an idea (or think you do). But it's important to check, especially if you think you may be behind on your payments.
Many borrowers I've worked with are surprised to find they owe more than they initially borrowed when it's time to start repayment. This is because most loans, except subsidized ones, begin accruing interest from the moment they are disbursed. Outstanding interest, which has not been capitalized or added to your loan, is listed separately from the principal balance. To fully understand your loan balance, it's important to carefully review your statements.
If you know who your student loan servicer is, you can log into your online account to check your balance. If you're not sure, you can find out by logging into your Federal Student Aid account and visiting the My Aid page.
Read more: 5 Ways to Pay Off Your Student Loans Even Faster
Plan to restart payments
If you are enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education Plan, your loans have been in an administrative forbearance since summer 2024 due to the plan's legal challenges. You haven't been able to make payments, and your interest rate has been set to zero. This payment hold is temporary and could end soon.
It's a good idea to explore other income-driven repayment plans so you can plan for your new monthly payment. You can use the US Department of Education's Loan Simulator to estimate your payments and check eligibility for specific plans.
Read more: My Student Loan Payment Will Jump From $0 to $488 After SAVE Ends. Yours Might Too
Earning less? Recertify your income
A lot has changed since the first administrative forbearance in 2020, and if you're facing financial hardship or making less money than you were five years ago, you may want to apply to have your income recertified to potentially lower your student loan payment if you're on an income-driven repayment plan.
To recertify your income, visit StudentAid.gov's IDR application page and select "Recertify or Change Your Income-Driven Repayment Plan."
Apply for the PSLF buyback program now, if you're eligible
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program offers debt cancellation for teachers, nurses and other public service employees who work in a qualifying job for 10 years and make 120 payments on their loans. If you're enrolled in SAVE and were close to reaching your 120 total payments, the recent payment pause may have delayed your forgiveness. In this case, you might benefit from the PSLF buyback program.
The PSLF buyback program lets you "buy back" months where your loans sat on hold during a forbearance period -- but only if doing so brings you to 120 total payments.
For example, let's say you had already made 115 qualifying payments before your loan entered the SAVE Plan forbearance. You could apply for the PSLF buyback program to buy back five of the months where your loans were in forbearance to reach the 120-payment requirement. You'll apply for the program online, and once approved, you'll have 90 days to pay off what you owe for the number of months you buy back. So, if your monthly payment was $100, you'd need to pay $500 to receive forgiveness.
You'll also need to make sure you meet all other PSLF eligibility criteria, such as working for a qualifying employer and having the correct loan type. If you think you're eligible and want to confirm your payment count, you can find qualifying payment amounts in your StudentAid.gov account.
Expert tip:
Note: Many borrowers have been waiting to find out the status of their PSLF buyback request, but it's still worth applying if you meet the requirements.
Read more: More Student Loan Forgiveness Is on the Way for PSLF Borrowers. What's Next for Debt Relief?
Pay off your interest while you're in school
If you're still in college, your student loans likely haven't entered repayment yet. While it's difficult to predict what repayment options will be available in the future, there are proactive steps you can take now.
One recommendation is to pay off any interest that accrues while you're still in school. Even small contributions can help reduce the overall cost of your loans in the long run.
If your federal student loan hasn't yet entered repayment, you won't be eligible to enroll in a repayment plan. Repayment starts six months after graduation or if your enrollment drops below half-time, unless you enroll in another program, like graduate school, before the grace period ends.
Read more: What's the Future of Student Loans and FAFSA if the Department of Education Goes Under?
Don't count on student loan forgiveness
Many borrowers have turned to income-driven repayment plans to reduce their monthly payments and potentially qualify for student loan forgiveness. However, forgiveness is not guaranteed, especially as legal challenges continue to threaten SAVE and some of the other IDR repayment plans. Programs like PSLF and forgiveness under the Income-Based Repayment Plan carry less risk, since they would require congressional action to be altered or eliminated.
That said, it's always wise to plan for full repayment of your student loans, regardless of any current potential forgiveness opportunities.