Tag: graduation loans

College Funding Changes In The Pandemic Relief Bill

There are several student financial aid provisions in the pandemic relief package that was included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 that passed the House and Senate on Monday, December 21, 2020.

Student Loan Relief

Student loan borrowers are disappointed that the legislation did not include an extension to the student loan payment pause and interest waiver, nor did it provide any student loan forgiveness.

The payment pause and interest waiver is set to expire on January 31, 2021. President-elect Joe Biden will be able to extend it further after he takes office on January 20, 2021. Several possible extension dates have been floated, including April 1, April 30 and September 30, but Joe Biden has not yet said anything specific about the extension, just that it is needed.

Nevertheless, there are some changes in the legislation that affect student loan borrowers. In particular, the tax-free status of employer-paid student loan repayment assistance programs (LRAPs), which was set to expired on December 31, 2020, has been extended for five years through the end of 2025. Such LRAPs will be exempt from income and FICA taxes for both the employee and the employer.

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SULA, a complicated set of limits on subsidized Federal Direct Stafford loans, has been repealed. SULA mostly affected students who transferred from a 4-year college to a 2-year college.

In addition, there have been a few changes concerning the U.S. Department of Education’s Next Generation Processing and Servicing Environment (NextGen) for federal student loans.

  • New student loan borrower accounts must be allocated to loan servicers based on their past performance and servicing capacity.
  • Borrower accounts must be reallocated from servicers for “recurring non-compliance with FSA guidelines, contractual requirements, and applicable laws, including for failure to sufficiently inform borrowers of available repayment options.” Applicable laws include consumer protection laws.
  • NextGen must allow for multiple student loan servicers that contract directly with the U.S. Department of Education.
  • NextGen must incentivize more support to borrowers at risk of delinquency or default.
  • Borrowers must be allowed to choose their loan servicer when they consolidate their federal loans.
  • The U.S. Department of Education must improve transparency through expanded publication of aggregate data concerning student loan servicer performance.

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Changes in College Tuition Tax Breaks

The legislation changes the income phaseouts for the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit (LLTC) to be the same as the income phaseouts for the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC), starting with tax years that begin after December 31, 2020.

The Lifetime Learning Tax Credit will start phasing out at $80,000 for single filers and $160,000 for taxpayers who file as married filing jointly. The tax credit is fully phased out at $90,000 (single) and $180,000 (married filing jointly). Married taxpayers who file separate returns are not eligible.

For comparison, the 2020 income phaseouts for the LLTC were $59,000 to $68,000 (single) and $118,000 to $136,000 (married filing jointly).

The new income phaseouts will not be adjusted for inflation.

In addition, the legislation repeals the Tuition and Fees Deduction, effective with tax years that begin in 2021. This is a permanent repeal, so the Tuition and Fees Deduction will not be resurrected by the next tax extenders bill.

New Funding for Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund

The $81.88 billion for the Education Stabilization Fund includes

  • $54.3 billion for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund
  • $22.7 billion for the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF)
  • $4.05 billion for the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund, of which $2.75 billion has been earmarked for Emergency Assistance to Non-Public Schools

The Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund previously received $16 billion as part of the CARES Act.

The allocation formula for the HEERF funding is more complicated than the one in the CARES Act, but the allowable uses are similar. Public and private non-profit colleges are required to use at least half of the money for financial aid grants to students. Private for-profit colleges are required to use all of the money for financial aid grants to students. Colleges must provide at least the same amount of emergency financial aid grants to students as they did under the CARES Act provisions, even if their total allocation is lower.

The emergency financial aid grants to students can be used for any element of the student’s cost of attendance or for emergency costs related to the pandemic, such as “tuition, food, housing, health care (including mental health care), or child care.”

The grants must be prioritized to students with exception financial need, such as Pell Grant recipients.

The emergency financial aid grants to students are tax-free.

Most College Students Remain Ineligible for Stimulus Checks

Most college students will remain ineligible for the recovery rebate checks, also known as the stimulus checks.

The legislation includes the same restriction that limits the $600 per qualifying child to children age 16 and younger. Only 0.1% of undergraduate students are age 16 or younger.

College students who are under age 24 are also ineligible, because they can be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s federal income tax return. The remain ineligible even if they are not claimed on someone else’s tax return.

A college student might qualify if they are married and file a joint return with their spouse or if they provide more than half of their own support. About 15% of undergraduate students are married. College students who are 24 years old or older may also qualify. More than 40% of undergraduate students are 24 years old or older.

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College students can still claim the $1,200 stimulus checks from the CARES Act in addition to the new $600 stimulus checks, if they are eligible.

Increase in the Maximum Pell Grant

The maximum Federal Pell Grant has been increased to $6,495 for the 2021-2022 academic year.

Eligibility criteria will be pegged to a multiple of the poverty line starting with the 2023-2024 academic year. Students will be eligible for the maximum Pell Grant if they and their parents/spouse, as applicable, are not required to file a federal income tax return or if their adjusted gross income (AGI) is less than 175% to 225% of the poverty line. The higher threshold is reserved for households involving a single parent.

FAFSA Simplification

The legislation simplifies the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) starting with the 2023-2024 academic year. The new FAFSA reduces the number of questions on the form by two-thirds, from 108 questions to about three dozen questions. Follow me on Twitter. Check out my website or some of my other work here. 

Mark Kantrowitz

Mark Kantrowitz

I am Publisher of PrivateStudentLoans.guru, a free web site about borrowing to pay for college. I am an expert on student financial aid, the FAFSA, scholarships, 529 plans, education tax benefits and student loans. I have been quoted in more than 10,000 newspaper and magazine articles about college admissions and financial aid. I am the author of five bestselling books about paying for college and have seven patents. I serve on the editorial board of the Journal of Student Financial Aid, the editorial advisory board of Bottom Line/Personal, and am a member of the board of trustees of the Center for Excellence in Education. I have previously served as publisher of Savingforcollege.com, Cappex, Edvisors, Fastweb and FinAid. I have two Bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and philosophy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a Master’s degree in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU)

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University of California Television (UCTV)

How to pay for college is a pressing question for all applicants from the class of 2020. COVID-19 has caused financial uncertainty and many are having to rethink their plans. Jodi Okun, an expert in financial aid, joins Steven Mercer to talk about how the pandemic is impacting financial aid awards, what to do if your family’s financial situation has changed, and how to plan for the future in uncertain times. [Show ID: 35963] More from: STEAM Channel (https://www.uctv.tv/steam) UCTV is the broadcast and online media platform of the University of California, featuring programming from its ten campuses, three national labs and affiliated research institutions. UCTV explores a broad spectrum of subjects for a general audience, including science, health and medicine, public affairs, humanities, arts and music, business, education, and agriculture. Launched in January 2000, UCTV embraces the core missions of the University of California — teaching, research, and public service – by providing quality, in-depth television far beyond the campus borders to inquisitive viewers around the world. (https://www.uctv.tv)

He Got $221,000 Of Student Loan Forgiveness, But Then This Happened

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This veteran thought he got $221,000 of student loan forgiveness, but then this happened. Here’s what you need to know.

Student Loans: Bankruptcy

A Navy veteran was granted $221,000 of of student loan forgiveness, which is also known as student loan discharge. U.S. bankruptcy judge in New York, Cecilia G. Morris, ruled that Kevin J. Rosenberg will not have to repay his student loan debt because it will impose an undue financial hardship.

However, in a relatively rare move in bankruptcy cases, his student loan servicer, Education Credit Management Corporation (ECMC), is now appealing the ruling.

“Instead of pursuing those opportunities available to him, and paying back his taxpayer-backed federal student loans, Plaintiff, for the past 10 years, has held various positions in the outdoor adventure industry, including starting up and running his own tour guide business,” ECMC wrote in filings.

ECMC claims that Rosenberg, who has a law degree from Cordozo Law School at Yeshiva University, could have earned more income working as an attorney. Rosenberg borrowed $116,500 of student loans between 1993 and 2004. He filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2018 and asked the court last June to discharge his student loan debt, which had grown to $221,400, including interest. At the time of filing, Rosenberg’s annual salary was $37,600, and after living and debt expenses, his monthly net loss was $1,500.

Traditionally, unlike mortgages or credit card debt, student loans cannot be discharged in bankruptcy. There are exceptions, however, namely if certain conditions regarding financial hardship are met.

The Brunner Test: Financial Hardship

Those conditions are reflected in the Brunner test, which is the legal test in all circuit courts, except the 8th circuit and 1st circuit. The 8th circuit uses a totality of circumstances, which is similar to Brunner, while the 1st circuit has yet to declare a standard.

In plain English, the Brunner standard says:

  1. the borrower has extenuating circumstances creating a hardship;
  2. those circumstances are likely to continue for a term of the loan; and
  3. the borrower has made good faith attempts to repay the loan. (The borrower does not actually have to make payments, but merely attempt to make payments – such as try to find a workable payment plan.)

“Inability to pay one’s debts by itself cannot be sufficient to establish an undue hardship; otherwise all bankruptcy litigants would have an undue hardship,” ECMC argued.

What Else Can You Do If You’re Struggling To Make Student Loan Payments?

Here are some potential action steps:

1. Income-Driven Repayment: For federal student loans, consider an income-driven repayment plan such as IBR, PAYE or REPAYE. Your payment is based on your discretionary income, family size and other factors, and you can receive federal student loan forgiveness on the remaining balance after 20 or 25 years of payments. However, you will owe income taxes on the amount of student loans forgiven.

2. Pay Off Other Debt: Pay off credit card debt first. Credit card debt typically has a higher interest rate than student loans. You may qualify for a personal loan at a lower interest rate, which can be used to pay off credit card debt, save you money in interest costs and potentially improve your credit score.

3. Contact your lender: If you’re facing financial struggle, don’t keep it a secret from your lender. Contact your lender to discuss alternative payment options.

4. Refinance student loans: Student loan refinancing rates are incredibly cheap right now and start at 1.99%. Student loan refinancing is the fastest way to pay off student loan debt. To qualify, you’ll need a credit score of at least 650 and enough monthly income for living expenses and debt repayment. If you meet those requirements, you may be a good candidate for student loan refinancing. If you don’t, you can also apply with a cosigner to help you get approved and get a lower interest rate.

This student loan refinancing calculator shows how much you can save with student loan refinancing.

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website or some of my other work here.

Zack Friedman

Zack Friedman is the bestselling author of the blockbuster book, The Lemonade Life: How To Fuel Success, Create Happiness, and Conquer Anything. Apple named The Lemonade Life one of “Fall’s Biggest Audiobooks” and a “Must-Listen.” Zack is the Founder & CEO of Make Lemonade, a leading online personal finance company that empowers you to live a better financial life. He is an in-demand speaker and has inspired millions through his powerful insights. Previously, he was chief financial officer of an international energy company, a hedge fund investor, and worked at Blackstone, Morgan Stanley, and the White House. Zack holds degrees from Harvard, Wharton, Columbia, and Johns Hopkins.

Source: He Got $221,000 Of Student Loan Forgiveness, But Then This Happened

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How To Calculate Your College Education Return On Investment

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With all the talk about changes to student loan repayment plans, popular student loan forgiveness programs potentially ending, and now limits on student loan borrowing, it’s essential that you fully understand what your college return on investment (ROI) is.

Going to college is an investment – just like buying stocks or investing in real estate. You are spending money (tuition, room, board, and more) with the goal of earning more money in the future – due to better paying jobs and opportunities.

And this has shown to be true for the last several decades according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Adults who complete a bachelors degree, on average, earn 57% more than those who are high school graduates. That’s a significant boost in earnings. But, if you spend too much to achieve it, it might not be worth it.

The Basic Math Of College Return On Investment

When you’re 17 or 18 years old, thinking about your lifetime return on investment of your college expenses is challenging. When you’re that age, it’s hard to even plan what classes to take, let alone your college major, future career, the implications of borrowing money to pay for school.

Luckily, we live in an era where there is more data than ever to help us make decisions.

To think about your return on investment, you want to look at what you spend – the cost of tuition, room, board, and more, and then compare it to what you have the potential to earn.

The Social Security Administration has some aggregate data on earnings that’s useful here. Controlling for various socio-demographic variables, men with bachelor’s degrees would earn $655,000 more in median lifetime earnings than high school graduates and women with a bachelor’s degrees would earn $450,000 more in median lifetime earnings than high school graduates.

Here’s the more interesting part – let’s take that lifetime earnings potential and discount it for the present day value. Applying a 4 percent annual real discount rate, the net present lifetime value at age 20 of a bachelor’s degree relative to a high school diploma is $260,000 for men and $180,000 for women. For those with a graduate degree, it is $400,000 for men and $310,000 for women.

So, adjusting for nothing else (such as career choice), men should never spend more than $260,000 for a bachelors degree, and women should never spend more than $180,000 for a bachelors degree.

The Advanced Math Of College ROI

Now that we have the basics, you can take some of that same math and apply it to your situation and see if you’re getting a potentially positive ROI or a negative ROI on your education costs.

You can look at your school’s cost of attendance (COA), which can typically be found on their financial aid webpage. Using that data, you can see the cost to attend four or five years.

Then, look at what you’d expect to earn over your lifetime. This can be a challenge, but tools like Glassdoor (which show salaries in various industries and jobs) or even government websites like Transparent California, where you can view ever Californian Public Worker’s salary. Using that data, you can see what you’d expect to make throughout your career, and add up your earning potential.

Once you do the math, you can see how the cost of your education stacks up for ROI.

Easy Rules Of Thumb To Remember

Doing the math can be challenging, but there are also some simple rules to remember when calculating your ROI.

First, while it may not seem like it, you can adjust your variables. You can attend a less expensive college (or do a path like community college first, then a state school). You can also earn more after graduation. Look at not just a career but adding in a side hustle as well. Maybe you are really passionate about a certain career, even though it doesn’t pay very well. You can still have a positive ROI, but you’ll earn that ROI with other jobs.

Second, borrowing to pay for school is expensive. It is a drag on your ROI due to the interest that will be accruing on your loans. And easy way to keep your ROI in balance with student loans is to never borrow more than you expect to earn in your first year after graduation. This is very career dependent, but it highlights how you can borrow more if you plan on going into a higher paying industry.

Finally, this math only includes high school versus bachelor degree. However, the same logic can apply to trade school or graduate school. You just need to get data around what you expect to make after graduation versus the cost of your education program.

There’s More Than Money When Going To College

Some will argue that there is more than a money ROI when it comes to higher education. And I’d be remiss to ignore that because it’s true. There is more to higher education than dollars in, dollars out.

Going to college has a variety of secondary benefits, such as a student moving out from home and learning how to handle communication, problem solving, and more. These real world skills are tough to put a monetary value on.

But, on the flip side, college is an expensive way to find yourself. While moving out of the house and having new experiences can be a very positive thing, it can easily become a future regret if the burden of student loans and poor financial choices weighs on you for a large portion of your life.

And my challenge would be, are there other ways to get these experiences while trying to build a positive ROI on education spending? My answer is yes.

Final Thoughts

Thinking about the ROI of your education spending can be a challenge. But it’s a must for every high schooler and parent.

Robert Farrington founded The College Investor, a personal finance website dedicated to helping people get out of student loan debt and start investing as early as possible.

Robert Farrington

Contributor

I’m a personal finance expert that focuses on helping millennials get out of student loan debt and start investing for their future. I also help parents make smart choi…

Source: How To Calculate Your College Education Return On Investment

5 Secrets To Refinance Your Student Loans – Zack Friedman

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With interest rates rising, there’s no better time to refinance student loans.

Student loan refinancing enables to you combine your existing federal and private student loans into a new, single student loan with a lower interest rate. As a result, you can lower your monthly payment and save significantly on interest costs, which can help you pay off your student loans faster.

(You can see how much you can save through refinancing with this free student loan refinancing calculator).

Here are 5 secrets to get approved to refinance your student loans:

1. Have a strong credit score

Lenders want to refinance student loans for borrowers with a history of financial responsibility.

One way they measure financial responsibility is through your credit score (or its underlying components). To increase your credit score, make sure that you meet your financial obligations and have a history of on-time payments. Don’t skip any payments and minimize your total debt as well as your credit card utilization.

If you don’t have a strong credit score, the good news is you can apply with a qualified co-signer, which can increase your chances for approval.

Insider Tip: Aim for a credit score of 700 or higher. However, lenders will refinance student loans for borrowers with credit scores starting at about 680.

2. Have a strong income

In addition to a strong credit score, student loan lenders want to ensure that you have stable and recurring income to repay your student loans.

How do you know if you have enough income to get approved?

Review your monthly after-tax income. When you subtract your monthly student loan and other debt payments, does a sufficient amount of income remain for other essential living expenses?

Insider Tip: If you do not have sufficient income after making student loan payments, you can increase your chances for approval with a qualified co-signer who has a strong monthly income.

3. Have no or limited other debt

Student loan lenders will evaluate all your debt – not just your student loan debt.

If you have credit card debt, mortgage debt or auto debt, lenders will sum all your debt payments together to understand your total debt obligations each month. The lower your monthly debt payments relative to your income, the better.

Insider Tip: This free lump-sum extra payment calculator can show you how much money can save by paying off some of your debt with a one-time payment. Pay off some of your debt obligations before applying to refinance student loans.

4. Have a relatively small debt-to-income ratio

Student loan lenders are interested in the relationship between your monthly income and your monthly debt obligations, which is known as your debt-to-income ratio.

For example, if you have $10,000 of monthly income and $3,000 of monthly debt expenses, then your debt-to-income ratio is 30%.

Insider Tip: The lower your debt-to-income ratio, the better. You can improve your debt-to-income ratio by increasing income or decreasing debt (or both).

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5. Be employed

It’s best to be employed with 1-2 years of work experience to maximize your chances of being approved for student loan refinance.

However, if you have a written job offer when you apply to refinance student loans (even if you are in graduate school or residency, for example), you can still get approved for student loan refinancing.

If you are unemployed or do not have stable, recurring income, it will be difficult to be approved for student loan refinancing.

Insider Tip: If you are unemployed or underemployed, your best option is to apply with a qualified co-signer with a strong credit profile.

Here’s a bonus tip: Apply to refinance your student loans with multiple lenders at once, not just one. First, it will only count as a single credit inquiry, and second, you will also maximize your changes for approval.

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