Federal Student Loan Interest Rates Set to 0% AND Option to Suspend Payments

onlinements 41

1. 

   JJ March 21, 2020 at 10:13 am MST

   Nicely stated!, I work for doe student loan onlinepany and this is exactly what we are doing! 👏🏽😁

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  Amber (Hip Sidekick) March 22, 2020 at 8:37 am MST

  🙌

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   Jess March 21, 2020 at 11:09 am MST

   How do I find out if mine will qualify? I have consolidated subsidized and unsubsized loans held through a onlinemercial lender.

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  kayti March 21, 2020 at 12:13 pm MST

  If it is not a federal loan and was consolidated with another vendor, then you would not qualify.

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3. 

   candace March 21, 2020 at 11:13 am MST

   Good luck to us who need to get through. I’ve tried two different days to call so far and got the message they had offices closed due to Coronavirus shortage but you have to call to do it :/

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  Miranda L March 21, 2020 at 11:37 am MST

  Try emailing them.

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  candace March 21, 2020 at 9:45 pm MST

  I did but we’ll see if they’ve set different parameters to allow it. Normally the cant. Has to be over the phone.

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4. 

   Rn404 March 21, 2020 at 12:07 pm MST

   My loans are through Nelnet so I will contact them and they are goloud about getting back with you quickly

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  Rischelle March 22, 2020 at 7:01 am MST

  Some of my loans are through Nelnet as well. Went online yesterday and had no problem requesting the forbearance. They even have a drop down menu that specifically lists Covid-19 Forbearance as an option. My other loans are through AES, which did not have such an option, nor did the forbearance option have the word “administrative” attached to it, so I just did a general forbearance and put all of that information in a onlinement section. So long as we’re contacting them, they should be backdating everything. Good luck, everyone!

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5. 

   kelly March 21, 2020 at 12:42 pm MST

   If only they just, ya know, voided them altogether. Now THAT would stimulate the economy.

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  tipaye March 21, 2020 at 3:15 pm MST

  Right?

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  mal f March 21, 2020 at 3:22 pm MST

  Will I get paid back for the student loans I have paid back then??

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  gray757 March 21, 2020 at 7:37 pm MST

  Umm definitely no

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  sara March 21, 2020 at 9:14 pm MST

  There is an important distinction between 2 kinds of people. Those who think, “I don’t want anyone to suffer like I did.” And those who think “I suffered; why shouldn’t they?”

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  katie March 22, 2020 at 1:25 pm MST

  And then there are those who paid their own way through college without taking a loan and don’t expect other people to pay for their choices.

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  Deal Dawg March 22, 2020 at 1:42 pm MST

  And there are those who have no choice but to get a loan and make payments on time each month to pay it back. For those in that situation, this is a nice break.

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  MommySpendsLess March 22, 2020 at 5:19 am MST

  Kelly – this appears to be less about stimulating the economy and more about letting people who have lost their jobs or had their hours cut keep their cash on hand for essentials until they can go back to work. Forgiving debt for people who earned degrees, presumably to obtain professional careers, is probably not going to help the economy long term as much as government funded infrastructure projects that would employee some of the thousands who will likely be unemployed by the time this is over.
  And I have student loans that I’ve been paying off for years and I would love for the last few thousand I owe to magically go away but that doesn’t mean I think they should because there’s an economy crippling pandemic.

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  Sushi March 22, 2020 at 5:45 am MST

  Kelly, you never know. If you google student loan forgiveness, there is a lot of discussion happening. Student loans do indeed cripple consumer spending. However it’s a big moneymaker for the government. With the election, you never know…

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  Sushi March 22, 2020 at 5:59 am MST

  There are a lot of scenarios that could happen in this pandemic. I only see student loan forgiveness as a plus for all of the Americans. Imagine a professional who hasn’t been given any onlinefort to know that his medical bills will be covered by his employer once he gets infected and his pay will be reduced to by 1/3 to stay home. Once he returns, it could happen again. After 2 months of student loan suspension, we’ll have to borrow from our 401K to start paying student loans not to mention the amount of medical expenses.

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6. 

   gray757 March 21, 2020 at 12:59 pm MST

   I have navient. When I log in online, it’s the same. I see no change. Maybe this hasn’t been put in their system yet?

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  Whitney March 21, 2020 at 1:55 pm MST

  Navient has a post about it when you log in. They said it’ll take a couple of days to be reflected, but will be retroactive back to March 13.

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  Jennifer (Hip Sidekick) March 21, 2020 at 2:06 pm MST

  Thank you for helping, Whitney!

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  gray757 March 21, 2020 at 6:07 pm MST

  Ok, I don’t have a note when I log in but thanks!

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7. 

   Karen March 21, 2020 at 1:23 pm MST

   Boo. It’s not worth asking for payment suspension for me. I am in year four of the 10 year public service employment required for loan forgiveness. I qualify for retirement before I qualify for the loan forgiveness, so every month I am not making a qualified payment is one month longer I have to work before I can retire.

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  Karen March 21, 2020 at 1:31 pm MST

  And wow! The 0% interest will not reduce the size of your payment: “Monthly payment amounts will not decrease because of the 0% interest rate. Any payment made during this time will first satisfy any pre-existing unpaid interest, and then the remaining amount will be applied to principal.”

  Are you kidding? That’s supposed to stimulate the economy?

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  Carol March 21, 2020 at 2:53 pm MST

  You’re still responsible for your loan. It just doesn’t accrue interest nor are you required to make payments during this time, thus more money in your pocket.

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  ToriSC March 21, 2020 at 2:59 pm MST

  That onlinement doesn’t make any sense. It’s a loan just like a mortgage or car loan. It’s not a credit card where the payment fluctuates so it’s 30 years before you pay it off. The payment is set when the loan goes active. Any payments now will go to principal assuming you have been making the proper payments. It will shorten it at the end same as if you pay extra on your mortgage and car.

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  Karen March 21, 2020 at 4:08 pm MST

  I understand My question was how this stimulates the economy when the effect is felt years later.

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  PrincessMom March 21, 2020 at 5:28 pm MST

  They’re allowing you to not make ANY payment for a couple months. If you choose to keep making payments then 100% of those payments goes toward the principal.

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  ampurand March 21, 2020 at 3:08 pm MST

  I am on my second year of PSLF. It is helpful for me. The break in payments doesn’t count against me, since they don’t have to be consecutive, so I have a little bit of extra money in this hard time. It does extend my work time before forgiveness by a few months, but I need the money more now than I foresee needing it then.

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8. 

   Lisa March 21, 2020 at 1:25 pm MST

   Please don’t make this a political post. Thank you, H2S, for breaking this down.

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  Penny March 21, 2020 at 2:08 pm MST

  Thank you, President Trump!
  It’s not political I’m just thanking my president for looking after us. After all, that is why we elected him! And that’s what he’s doing.

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9. 

   tipaye March 21, 2020 at 3:16 pm MST

   H2S, please consider removing this onlinement.

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10. 

    Rebecca March 21, 2020 at 3:52 pm MST

    How do we suspend for 2 months, contact them? Not seeing an option.

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11. 

    De March 21, 2020 at 3:55 pm MST

    Why should student loans be discharged? It’s a debt that you took on. If loans are forgiven then we the taxpayers end up with that burden. I went to school, worked and paid for my own schooling. That being said, in these times the payment should be postponed if necessary.

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  Karen March 21, 2020 at 4:19 pm MST

  No one is saying they do not think they owe a debt. The article indicates there would be 0% interest for two months on federal loans. I would save me $200, a pittance in the face of billion dollar corporate bailouts. Nonetheless, not paying interest on this month’s payment would mean my my son could eat a few days longer. Have soem empathy.

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  De March 21, 2020 at 4:50 pm MST

  I believe Kelly and Tipaye above were onlinementing on voiding them.

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12. 

    hope-0 March 21, 2020 at 5:22 pm MST

    Listen folks who are onlineplaining. Check your entitlement and selfishness. This us supposed to help people who have lost their jobs and/or working hours. You should have thought before you rushed to judge.

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  Amanda7141 March 21, 2020 at 7:05 pm MST

  Amen to that! 💕

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  Sushi March 22, 2020 at 6:10 am MST

  When my entitled and selfishness self looked online, we have to be approved by providing a reason to get our loan suspended. We’re lucky to be working, but have no side hustle/extra money. So, although it would ease my money stress levels due to the coronavirus, our situation doesn’t qualify for the student loan suspension.

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13. 

    cindy March 23, 2020 at 9:33 am MST

    During normal times, when making a payment there is a selection to not advance due date. So after several payments by leaving that box unchecked, the due date is now in 2021. Does that mean that a payment would not be due until then, with interest accruing of course.

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