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Mar 14

Now may be the time to pursue student loan forgiveness, higher education

By Feature

Nonprofit INvestED

by Shari Finnell, editor/writer, Not-for-profit News

With tuition averaging $40,000 for private colleges and up to $28,000 at public colleges, the prospect of having student loan debt forgiven under federal government programs can be enticing. And with the pandemic moratorium for repaying federal student loan debt set to expire on May 1, questions on how to get some relief are steadily emerging.

You may be wondering, Am I eligible for student loan forgiveness? Is it worth the trouble of applying if I’ve been turned down before? Should I pursue a degree and work in public service — especially if I have a chance of my loans being canceled in the future?

And for those who are considering a degree at the undergraduate or graduate level, the rising costs of tuition — which is outpacing inflation by 28 percent in some cases, according to the National Center for Education Statistics — may act as a deterrent to starting the college application process.

These are the types of questions and situation that recently have been fielded by INvestEd, a nonprofit that helps Indiana residents discover avenues to pay for the expenses of a higher education, especially in the wake of the recent overhaul of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program which erased an additional $6.2 billion in student loan debt, according to William Wozniak, vice president of marketing for the organization.

Wozniak said now is a good time for Indiana residents to be hopeful about qualifying for student loan forgiveness under the revised PSLF program, as well as the affordability of college — despite statistics that seem to indicate otherwise.

INvestEd, which has been providing students and their families with solutions for a college education for more than 40 years, said that people who may have been turned down for student loan forgiveness under PSLF for various reasons, including missed payments on loans or an employer being determined ineligible, Wozniak said.

Because of previous restrictions, the PSLF, which was introduced in 2007, only a small percentage of students had their loans forgiven, he added. The program was designed to incentivize more students to pursue careers in public service instead of positions in the more lucrative private sector. However, until recently, there hadn’t been any significant dent in the number of students who had loans forgiven under the program.

“Even if you were told you’re not eligible, now is the time to go back,” Wozniak said. “We can’t say in every case, you’re going to be in the clear and everything’s going to be OK but you can get advice on what you can do to still be on track to get your loan forgiven. The answer may have changed even if you were told a year ago that you were ineligible.”

Wozniak also said that many prospective students and their families often mistakenly assume that they don’t qualify for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) because of their household income. And despite the headlines that point out that college tuition rates are soaring, the overall cost of attending college is declining because of an increase in the amount of grant assistance students can qualify for, he added.

Highlights of the revised PSLF

Under the PSLF, a person may be able to have their federal student loan debt canceled if they:

  • Work full-time for an eligible public service or non-profit employer
  • Enroll in an income-driven repayment plan
  • Make at least 120 monthly student loan payments. Some participants may have had their payments deemed ineligible. If this is the case, they can apply for a limited waiver for student loan forgiveness through the U.S. Department of Education. The deadline to apply for the waiver is Oct. 31. It’s important to submit an Employer Certification to the U.S. Department of Education each year, and with each change of employer.
  • For those who have FFEL, Perkins, or other federal student loans, consolidate your loans into a Direct Consolidation Loan to qualify for PSLF both in general and under the waiver. Before consolidating, confirm if the employer qualifies for the program.
  • Past periods of repayment will now count regardless of whether a person made a payment, made that payment on time, for the full amount due, on a qualifying repayment plan.
  • Periods of deferment or forbearance, and periods of default, continue to not qualify.

For more information about PSLF, go to the federal government site.

You can also contact INvestEd for a free consultation. INvestED consultants also can be reached at (317) 715-9007.

Common challenges facing students, loans and college tuition

In consulting with students and families, INvestED has come across numerous challenges they have faced in handling student loan debt, according to Wozniak. They include:

  • Using private loans with high interest rates. In some cases, families are paying interest rates of 10 percent or more for years, Wozniak pointed out. “There are some people who might have $40,000 or $50,000 debt on the federal side, but they might have as much as that or more in private loans,” he said. “And even if the federal government were to wipe away all the federal loans, if they didn’t do the private loans as well, people are still paying 10, 11 or 12 percent on loans, waiting for federal forgiveness that may or may not come.”
  • Unexpected changes in the PSLF eligibility rules. In some cases, even with adherence to the rules, students have encountered unexpected changes that made them ineligible for federal debt forgiveness.“ For years, we would talk to students and their families about making sure you’re current with your payments, and that your job is acceptable for the program so that you’re in position (for loan forgiveness),” Wozniak said. “Some people may have been working at an employer, and then in the seventh or eighth year of their employment, the employer was then deemed not acceptable. It wasn’t their fault. For whatever reason the department made that ruling.” If this has happened to you in the past, Wozniak said, recent revisions to PSLF could make you eligible for the program once again.
  • Missed loan payments. Under PSLF restrictions, students were considered ineligible for the program if they missed loan payments. Those rules have been relaxed, according to Wozniak. “When we get to the pandemic, there was a realization that almost nobody was getting anything forgiven,” he said. “At that point, adjustments started to be made to the program.” Wozniak said they have advised students to return to the program even if they had been told they were not eligible because of missed loan payments.

Overall cost of attending college 

INvestED also has a mission to educate students and their families about the overall cost of attending college and the grant assistance that may be available to them, according to Wozniak.

He said it’s important to distinguish between the sticker price and the net cost. Media outlets often will highlight the cost of attending college but will less likely feature articles about the net cost of attending college — after grant funds have been applied.

INvestED counselors advise students to apply to different colleges to determine that net cost. In some cases, the institution with the highest tuition may actually have the lowest overall cost after grant dollars have been added into the equation, he said.

“When we work with families, they’re pleasantly surprised when they find out that Mary or Johnny can go to school for $15,000 net. We look at the actual net cost for that student,” Wozniak added. “With the proper advanced research, students can save a lot of money, which often means a lot less in student loans.”

Jun 14

Pandemic reveals the challenges in eliminating inequities among Hoosier students

By Feature

Local nonprofit leaders predict a complex journey in addressing underlying issues

by Shari Finnell, editor/writer, Not for Profit News

Like many other nonprofit organizations, the team at Christel House Indianapolis had to quickly assess how to carry out its mission in spite of COVID-19 restrictions in early 2020 — an endeavor that revealed many of the challenges facing the students they serve.

“When the pandemic hit last March, our board members and our entire team came together and realized that the pandemic was not just going to last for a couple of weeks,” said Dr. Sarah Weimer, executive director of Christel House Indianapolis.

It was a critical undertaking as they considered the potential for educational setbacks among Christel House students living in some of the most under-resourced communities in Indianapolis. The closing of school buildings for 2,300 K-12 students and 750 adult learners would require addressing any challenges in their home environments.

Technology was identified as a priority, and the team implemented a plan to distribute devices to each of their students at their Indianapolis schools. However, that plan only addressed part of the equation. “They had the device but couldn’t access the Internet to download their assignments,” Weimer said. “We discovered that over 50 percent of our students in Indianapolis did not have access to WiFi.”

Although telecommunications companies offered discounted and free internet service for students in low-income households during the pandemic, more challenges came their way. “Providers were having deals for families to get free internet, but they had barriers,” Weimer said. “If you owed a bill, you couldn’t get free access. If you didn’t have a social security number, you couldn’t get access.” Through a partnership with the Indianapolis Mayor’s Office and a fundraising initiative, Christel House was able to purchase data packages totaling $10,000 a month to support their students. 

In looking back, Weimer said the pandemic further revealed the inequities that already existed based on demographics and neighborhoods. “The inequity question is one that we’re going to be grappling with for years to come,” Weimer said. “We don’t have a good grasp of how impoverished communities and communities of color were impacted by the pandemic. We know statistically but we don’t have an understanding of the toll, including the emotional and mental toll.

“There’s going to be a lot to unpack for the kids,” she added. “Besides academic and learning loss, the students we serve come from backgrounds where they need additional mental health services, food insecurity and childhood trauma, all of which were exacerbated by the pandemic,”

Dennis E. Bland, president of the Center for Leadership Development, an organization that equips African American youth with education, business and community leadership opportunities, including scholarships, said that the pandemic highlighted varying mindsets about the value of an education — a gap that must be addressed to ensure that equity is achieved.

Bland said there often is a perception that everyone understands the opportunities that are open to an individual who is committed to advancing their education. However, he said, that lack of understanding can be at the root of some inequities.

Students, especially those growing up in households where the importance of an education is stressed, will more likely take advantage of tutoring, counseling, summer classes, college prep and other programs that are available to them. “Students who were committed to taking advantage of those resources were the students who did the best,” he said. “It’s not necessarily the lack of resources, it’s a lack of understanding about the value of an education.”

Bland said the conversation must start there — educating students and their family about the value of an education. “It is the duty of caring people in our community to encourage students to study and to take advantage of these resources — not whether or not you feel like it. This is about whether or not you want to be successful. Success often means doing the opposite of what you feel.”

“We need to give more people an education on education,” Bland added. “We struggle as a society because we go along as if we think that people innately value education and learning.”

The challenges in understanding the impact of the pandemic on students is multi-faceted, Weimer agreed. “It’s not just about academic preparedness,” she said. We must address the social and emotional issues that have been confounded during the pandemic year. We will be focusing on those issues during the upcoming year.”

Christel House has had a history of addressing those complexities as part of the support it provides students. “We follow our students for five years after they graduate,” Weimer explained. “Poverty isn’t alleviated just because they graduated. The hurdles they have to overcome don’t magically disappear after they get a diploma.”

The organization tailors a support plan for each student, depending upon their specific needs. As they navigate college or other educational and career paths, each high school graduate stays in contact with college and career administrators who are aware of the potential barriers to their success.

“They (students) can proactively reach out if they need gas cards if they lose a job. If they have a job interview, we can help them secure interview clothes,” Weimer said. “We may have students in college who will sign up for classes and realize their books are not covered by financial aid. We’ll pay for their books.”

Navigating the complexities of college, like understanding what a Bursar’s Office is, can be difficult for first-generation high school graduates or first-generation college-goers, especially since they can’t go to their families for direction, Weimer added. “Some things are foreign for a large portion of our families,” she said.

While these challenges were already familiar to Christel House, the pandemic shed more light on some of the hurdles facing students who are in households where English is a second language. 

Many families with children learning at home are able to easily stand in and help them adjust and assist with questions related to their studies, Weimer noted. However, about 50 percent of the Christel House Indianapolis students live in households where the adults don’t speak English or who don’t engage with computers on a day-to-day basis.

“When they’re trying to help their child navigate assignments or instructions, there’s a language barrier,” Weimer said. “We need to do a better job of paying attention to low-income households, communities of color, immigrants so that we can do a better job of outreach, equitable practices and equitable access.”