College Cost Reduction & Access Act is now fully effective! June 30, 2009
Posted by equaljusticeworks in debt relief, loan forgiveness.Tags: CCRAA, CCRAA fully effective, CCRAA regulations, college cost reduction and access act, IBR application, IBRinfo.org, Income-Based Repayment, paying for college, public service employment, public service loan forgiveness, student debt relief, student loan repayment, U.S. Department of Education
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Two years ago I was sharing Ramen noodle recipes with public service workers struggling to repay student loans. Tomorrow, the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (CCRAA) becomes fully effective and Income-Based Repayment is available to make federal student loan payments more manageable. And people working full-time in government and nonprofit positions can earn Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)!
Over the past year we’ve been getting the word out with the help of people like you and organizations like IBRinfo.org and the Ford Foundation. You’ll also notice that the U.S. Department of Education has posted its IBR application. If your loans aren’t with the U.S. Department of Education (Federal Direct), contact your lender to apply for IBR but remember: ONLY Federal Direct loans are eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. If you are in public service, consider consolidating into Federal Direct. If you’re not sure who your lender is, check the National Student Loan Data System.
There’s a lot more work to be done to make higher education more affordable, but we have come a long way. If you have any questions as you prepare to take advantage of public service loan forgiveness or income-based repayment, check here for upcoming webinars and visit the forum to post your questions and receive answers. You can also find checklists, podcasts and other information about both provisions of the CCRAA at www.equaljusticeworks.org/resources/student-debt-relief
-Heather
UPDATE 11/3/09: Check out the video on the CCRAA and what it means to those working in public service.
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Heather,
Will this program apply to people that have student loans in current collections and aren’t able to get a deferrement?
Since IBR is a repayment plan, you must be in repayment (not in default) in order to use it. If you are able to get out of default through rehabilitating or consolidating your loans, you will once again be eligible for the more flexible pre-default repayment options as well as deferments. For more information on repayment to get out of default visit Student Loan Borrower Assistance’s website.
This will do nothing for those who have already dedicated years to public service. I have worked as a criminal prosecutor for 8 years. My law school classmates make at least $30-$40k more per year. It was not a big deal when I was in my late 20s, coming out of law school but now I’m married with a home mortgage, etc. Where is our bailout? Why won’t the federal government forgive student loans for those who have dedicated their careers to public service?
I hear you, Andrew. I’m in the same boat. I’ve done exclusively public interest law since my graduation from Duke law 11 years ago. I still owe HUGE amounts and will be paying on my student loans when my children are in college. Experienced public service workers benefit the least (if at all) because we have less eligible debt (because the GradPLUS loan program did not become available until 2006) and more ineligible debt (since we had to borrow private student loans to make up the difference. The federal government can’t forgive the debt we owe to banks, but can only forgive debt owed to the federal government (hence only Federal Direct loans are eligible for loan forgiveness). I am thankful that at least future generations have access to GradPLUS and public service loan forgiveness, so that their sacrifices will be less than ours.
nice to know about it …thankx for sharing ….