SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WXYZ) — Whether you attended a private university like Lawrence Tech or a public university, you most likely took out some federal loans to pay for your education.
But when to pay those back — that’s becoming more complicated for some borrowers.
Millions of Americans are dealing with student loan debt.
“I currently owe about $17,000 in student loans still,” Mario Crippen said.
With the suspension of some Biden-era repayment plans and talks about Department of Education uncertainty, borrowers like Crippen, who graduated in 2016, are becoming increasingly frustrated.
“First back when I graduated, I had a plan set up. Then I went into forbearance a few times and then finally, Biden came into office and was talking about doing something about student loans because that’s most of America’s headache right now is student loans and what’s going to go on with it,” Crippen said.
Crippen says his payments are now deferred under former President Joe Biden’s debt relief plan, better known as SAVE.
“I just don’t know when it’s going to be due again and then trying to figure out how I’m going to eat day to day, how I’m going to be providing for my son day to day, it’s a scary feeling I’m in. I just want it to be over and done with,” Crippen said.
Currently in legal limbo, the SAVE repayment plan is most likely going to go away, according to Sabrina Calazans executive director of the nonprofit Student Debt Crisis Center.
“Right now, no one can actually apply for the plan. It’s been removed from the application, but there are 8 million Americans currently enrolled in SAVE,” Calazans said. “So, what does that mean? If you’re enrolled in SAVE, you don’t have to make a payment at this time.”
Calazans says if you’re not enrolled in SAVE or you weren’t told otherwise, you should be making payments.
“Because there are consequences like delinquency and default that can have negative consequences like credit reporting, wage garnishments, things of that nature. However, there are options for you if you cannot afford your current monthly payment,” Calazans said. “There are forbearances, deferments that you can apply for, so that you’re protected from falling into default.”
To further protect yourself from uncertainty, Calazan has some tips.
“Our number one tip right now is that everyone should log into their studentaid.gov account, which is the federal website, as well as their servicer account, and document everything. That includes screenshotting, printing, saving, downloading, writing down all of the information,” she said.
Crippen is taking Calazan’s advice.
“It doesn’t sound like a bad idea to screenshot because things are changing constantly on a day-by-day basis on what’s going on with our student loans,” Crippen said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know what honestly to do. At the top of my head, I can’t think of a great solution but is to hope and pray that everything works itself out.”
