If you have a high debt load, it is usually a safer bet to keep your federal loans, along with the option to apply
for alternative repayment plans if needed.
If you have a high debt load, it is usually a safer bet to keep your federal loans, along with the option to apply for
alternative repayment plans if needed.
Borrowers can also find information online that will help them with consolidation, loan forgiveness, handling late payments, understanding their bills, managing their repayment, and information
regarding alternative repayment plans.
Payment Plans: Besides the Standard (10 Year) Repayment Plan typically implemented for federal student loans, the government offers the
following alternative repayment plans: Income - based repayment, Income - contingent repayment, Pay as You Earn and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).
If you're enrolled in the Revised Pay As You Earn plan, you'll be put on
an alternative repayment plan based on the amount you still owe.
Signing up for
an alternative repayment plan or entering a temporary forbearance can prevent more serious issues from occurring later on.
Under
this alternative repayment plan, your required monthly payment is not based on your income.
Instead, your payment will be the amount necessary to repay your loan in full by the earlier of (a) 10 years from the date you begin repaying under
the alternative repayment plan, or (b) the ending date of your 20 - or 25 - year REPAYE Plan repayment period.
You may choose to leave
the alternative repayment plan and repay under any other repayment plan for which you are eligible.
Under the REPAYE Plan, if you don't recertify your income by the annual deadline, you'll be removed from the REPAYE Plan and placed on
an alternative repayment plan.
You may also be able to take advantage of
the alternative repayment plans that you couldn't access before.
To qualify for
an alternative repayment plan, a borrower must show that the terms and conditions of the other available repayment plans are not adequate to accommodate the borrower's exceptional circumstances.
For now, there is no standard definition of «exceptional circumstances» to get
an alternative repayment plan.
It makes you eligible for deferment, forbearance, consolidation, forgiveness and
alternative repayment plans.
Note: Borrowers will be disqualified from this benefit for using an economic hardship deferment or bankruptcy forbearance to temporarily stop making payments or for using
an alternative repayment plan.
However, because federal student loans issued as of July 2006 have fixed rates, «There is no financial benefit to consolidating federal loans, other than having a single monthly payment and access to
alternative repayment plans,» Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid, told Forbes.
If you fail to provide income documentation within ten days of the servicer's deadline and the Department can not determine your new monthly payment before the end of the annual payment period, you will likely be removed from the REPAYE plan and placed in
an alternative repayment plan.
You might also have access to
alternative repayment plans you wouldn't» have had before, such as Income Contingent Repayment.
Though many students hold federal student loans with strong consumer protections, a growing number take out private loans that carry no limits on interest rates and offer few, if any,
alternative repayment plans.
If your income is low there are
alternative repayment plans.
If you're enrolled in the Revised Pay As You Earn plan, you'll be put on
an alternative repayment plan based on the amount you still owe.
If you find yourself having trouble managing your debts in Hawaii, the first step you should take is contact your creditors and ask for
an alternative repayment plan that's convenient for you.
Under the REPAYE Plan, if you don't recertify your income by the annual deadline, you'll be removed from the REPAYE Plan and placed on
an alternative repayment plan.
You may choose to leave
the alternative repayment plan and repay under any other repayment plan for which you are eligible.
Under
this alternative repayment plan, your required monthly payment is not based on your income.
Instead, your payment will be the amount necessary to repay your loan in full by the earlier of (a) 10 years from the date you begin repaying under
the alternative repayment plan, or (b) the ending date of your 20 - or 25 - year REPAYE Plan repayment period.
Keep in mind that if you consolidate federal student loans, you may lose
some alternative repayment plans associated with the federal government loan program.