Just when you thought the government was ready to help! But, of course, it seems anything the government tries to fix only ends up getting worse. Earlier this year, Congress signed a 350 million stimulus fund to help give a boost to the student loan forgiveness program. Many students buried under mounds of loan that thought they were going to get help.
However, that isn’t the case. This program is called the temporary expanded public service loan forgiveness program. So far, it is denied 90% of all the applicants looking for additional help. This is according to Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia. He wrote a letter to CNBC after being asked how this program is working for students.
Michael Sonn is just one of the students who got excited about the student loan forgiveness fix. Sonn is just one of many who made a decade’s amount of payments, only to get denied. Apparently, he was enrolled in the wrong repayment program, which was enough to deny him student loan forgiveness.
When Congress passed this new bill, Sonn grew excited. He thought he was finally going to receive student loan forgiveness. To be debt-free is a great thing, especially after having this type of debt hanging over your head for that long. The problem is, he got denied help from a program designed to fix the original program
If you’re interested in learning more about student loan forgiveness, and to see if you qualify, go Financial Helpers today. We love to talk about your situation and see how we can help. You can call us at:
The Government Doesn’t Care about Student Loan Forgiveness
At this point, it’s obvious that the federal government does not care about helping students. Betsy DeVos, President Trump’s Education Secretary, was just taken to court over this matter. Instead of allowing students to obtain student loan forgiveness, she’s done her best to delay the program.
Under the current law, if you work in a public service and make on-time payments for 10 years, you can have your debt forgiven. Except, many people like Sonn are rejected. They’re being misguided to prevent them from obtaining student loan forgiveness. After a decade of payments, there told the missed one requirement.
http://financialhelpers.com/student-loan-debt-creates-pessimistic-attitudes-towards-college/
Congress passed this new law to help those students. Yet, they are not being helped. You have a government that doesn’t want to tackle the problem and service loan providers that purposely mislead student so that they end up having to pay their entire bill. That means consumers are not being protected.
Sowing Confusion
By giving students the runaround, it only seems to frustrate them into giving up. Sonn was hopeful because he did everything he was supposed to do. In the end, they told him he didn’t make enough payments. “That doesn’t make sense,” said Sonn, who works for the Minnesota Department of Transportation. “I’ve been paying for 12 years now.”
He has a right to feel frustrated. Because he consolidated his loans in 2012, he was later told that that reset the clock. He wouldn’t be able to obtain student loan forgiveness now until 2022. By then, the government ‘fix’ will be gone and depleted of funds.
“It feels like the hoops were put in place to not pay out in the end,” Sonn said. “I hope the Trump Administration will turn things around by creating a simple process that gives fair consideration to the teachers, military personnel, law enforcement officers, and other public servants who apply for this debt relief,” he said.
