Student loan payments refund

STUDENT LOAN HAVERS: Did you know that under the CARES act you can have any payments made after 3/13/20 refunded? This will cause your loan to go back up to that amount, but if anyone is getting their loan forgiven and has less than $10K or you're like me and were trying to pay down your loans during the 0% interest period and then got it forgiven finally for PSLF?

Just was on the phone with FedLoan and they have processed my refund. I may have cried a bit about this. Hopefully this information helps someone else out there!

My friend found this out from TikTok! It was a very very tiny sentence tucked away on my loan provider's webpage, so it's hidden away. But call and ask for it!!!

In light of the recent Supreme Court ruling on student debt forgiveness in Biden v. Nebraska, it seems it might be useful to revisit why American students have so much student debt.

Ironically, it all dates back to Reagan's and the Republicans' decision to cut back on funding for public colleges and universities in order to avoid the possibility of having an "educated proletariat."

So it isn't surprising that is is Republicans who were opposed to any government debt forgiveness for student loans. THEY DON'T WANT TO HAVE EDUCATED CITIZENS. The poorly educated are much easier to manipulate and control.

In 1970, Ronald Reagan was running for reelection as governor of California. He had first won in 1966 with confrontational rhetoric toward the University of California public college system and executed confrontational policies when in office. In May 1970, Reagan had shut down all 28 UC and Cal State campuses in the midst of student protests against the Vietnam War and the U.S. bombing of Cambodia. On October 29, less than a week before the election, his education adviser Roger A. Freeman spoke at a press conference to defend him. Freeman’s remarks were reported the next day in the San Francisco Chronicle under the headline “Professor Sees Peril in Education.” According to the Chronicle article, Freeman said, “We are in danger of producing an educated proletariat. … That’s dynamite! We have to be selective on who we allow [to go to college].” “If not,” Freeman continued, “we will have a large number of highly trained and unemployed people.”

I FINALLY QUALIFY FOR PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS

My initial student loan was $54,935.92.

I paid over $30,887.83*

My loan is currently at $51,756.93.

I thought I had made all 120 qualifying payments last year. I had to submit and resubmit the PSLF application multiple times, because it kept getting sent back because of problems with how my employers signed the form. It turned out some of the payments didn't qualify, so I had to stick with helljob for at least another year.

I definitely had made 120 qualifying payments this year, so I sent the application in December 2023.

Just got notified now that I have made all qualifying payments. I've made three extra payments, even.

"After we receive the approval, it may take up to 90 business days to process this information."

Three more months of helljob, because I still don't trust this is going to go through and I don't want to quit until I know my loans are gone. I do not have anything lined up after helljob, and I'm terrified of losing my helljob health insurance because I got medical complications. But I hate helljob. I hate helljob so much and my first emotion waking every workday is despair.

At least the loan payments have been paused until the reimbursement is processed. Theoretically I should get reimbursed for the extra payments, too.

* This was only my qualifying payments. The total amount I paid was higher. The website isn't showing me the non-qualifying payments and I have to submit a formal request to get my full payment history. I submitted the request, but it will take a few days to be sent to me.

The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) filed a lawsuit Friday against the Biden administration’s new student loan income-driven repayment (IDR) plan.

The lawsuit comes after the Department of Education launched a beta website this week for the Saving on Valuable Education (SAVE) application, the new IDR plan the White House has dubbed the “most generous” for student borrowers.

The NCLA, on behalf of the Cato Institute and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, filed a suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan to stop the implementation of this plan.

The NCLA is arguing that the new IDR plan violates the Constitution’s Appropriations Clause, which allows Congress to be in charge of what debt owed to the Treasury can be canceled.

Under the SAVE plan, loan forgiveness would come quicker for many borrowers. For one, the plan allows borrower whose student loan has an original principal balance of $12,000 or less to get forgiveness after 10 years of payments.

It also allows certain periods of deferment and forbearance to count toward the time needed to get full forgiveness on an individual’s loan.

“In the Nebraska case, the Supreme Court struck down the Department of Education’s brazen attempt to pull a billion-dollar ‘elephant’ out of a statutory ‘mousehole.’ This time the Department’s loan-cancellation scheme does not even pretend to have a statutory ‘mousehole,'” said Sheng Li, Litigation Counsel for NCLA.

“The [Public Service Loan Forgiveness] and IDR statutes require borrowers to make a certain number of monthly payments before earning forgiveness. By trying to count non-payments as payments, the strategy seems to be to cancel $39 billion faster than a court can review and stop this blatantly unlawful act,” Li continued.

Along with the $39 billion the NCLA says the Department could cancel almost immediately, it would allow debt to be canceled for 2.8 million more IDR borrowers in the future.

“Instead of promulgating the plan through the required notice-and-comment and negotiated rulemaking process under the Administrative Procedure Act, the Department simply issued a press release that did not identify any laws to justify it,” the NCLA wrote.

The challenge to the SAVE plan comes two months before student loan borrowers will be forced back into repayment after the three-year COVID-19 student loan pause.

The Hill has reached out to the Department of Education for comment.

I didn’t have student loans.

This is not a humble brag, it’s just a statement of fact. Mom and Dad paid my undergrad tuition because a) they could afford it and b) state university tuition was a hella lot cheaper in 1991-1995. For my two graduate degrees I was also privileged. The first one I started with pulling money out of an annuity my folks started for me when I was 14, but then I got an assistantship that paid full tuition plus a teaching stipend (I still worked part-time jobs at a radio station and as a karaoke DJ in a dive bar). The second I also had help from the annuity, plus a research assistantship and my husband working full time.

All that to say...

FORGIVE STUDENT LOAN DEBT. ALL OF IT. NO ONE SHOULD HAVE TO SUFFER FINANCIALLY BECAUSE CAPITALISM MADE A BACHELOR’S DEGREE A FUCKING REQUIREMENT!

(AND WHILE WE’RE AT IT MAKE COLLEGE TUITION-FREE)

Yay the spouse and I qualify for the one time loan forgiveness

Boo I'm still going to owe 20k after the one time loan forgiveness

Yay the rest of my loans are slated to be forgiven under PSLF in Dec 2023

Boo spouse will owe about 150k after the one time forgiveness

Yay the spouse will have the rest of their loans forgiven under PSLF in 2029

Boo after 2025 loan forgiveness counts as income again for some evil fucking reason

Tonight's been a roller coaster, lemme tell ya. 🎢

PSA: Public Service Loan Forgiveness Application Deadline is October 31, 2022

Even if you're not sure if your employer qualifies, find the Employer ID Number (on your W-2 or other tax docs) and look it up. You could get some loan forgiveness! This is a BIG DEAL. The PSLF has historically been kind of a joke, with applications almost always rejected for some bureaucratic reason (see https://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/public-service-student-loan-forgiveness-applicants-rejected-college-debt). But NOW they're ACTUALLY GOING TO FORGIVE SHIT. THIS IS A HUGE WIN.

Public comments on student loan forgiveness

A new version of student loan forgiveness is in the works and this one is taking public comments!

Go to the Federal Register to read through the documents and submit your comment (you can read through everyone else's comments to get ideas of what to say, or to see anti-forgiveness arguments you might want to counter).

A summary of the proposed regulations start here on the page. Vox has an article explaining them in simpler language.

Deadline: 17 May 2024

(I haven't gone looking for scripts/sample letters, but if you do, check on this section about "Mass Writing Campaigns")

Debt Discrimination

April 26 2024 By PK Morgan Most of the middle and lower classes have worked all of their lives to support their families. It’s not always easy and speed bumps called financial crisis are scattered everywhere. Our solution was rarely found in asking our country to pay our way out of debt that we freely took on to feed our children or buy that shiny new car.  We worked to pay it off. But…

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The Power of Breaking Free from Student Debt

Student debt is an ever-increasing problem that millions of young Americans face today. The burden of loan repayments can be overwhelming, often delaying major life milestones such as buying a home or starting a family. But what if there was a way to break free from this cycle of debt and regain control of your financial future? This is where education loan forgiveness comes into play. Education…

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Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #13

April 5-12 2024

President Biden announced the cancellation of a student loan debt for a further 277,000 Americans. This brings the number of a Americans who had their debt canceled by the Biden administration through different means since the Supreme Court struck down Biden's first place in 2023 to 4.3 million and a total of $153 billion of debt canceled so far. Most of these borrowers were a part of the President's SAVE Plan, a debt repayment program with 8 million enrollees, over 4 million of whom don't have to make monthly repayments and are still on the path to debt forgiveness.

President Biden announced a plan that would cancel student loan debt for 4 million borrowers and bring debt relief to 30 million Americans The plan takes steps like making automatic debt forgiveness through the public service forgiveness so qualified borrowers who don't know to apply will have their debts forgiven. The plan will wipe out the interest on the debt of 23 million Americans. President Biden touted how the plan will help black and Latino borrowers the most who carry the heavily debt burdens. The plan is expected to go into effect this fall ahead of the election.

President Biden and Vice-President Harris announced the closing of the so-called gun show loophole. For years people selling guns outside of traditional stores, such as at gun shows and in the 21st century over the internet have not been required to preform a background check to see if buyers are legally allowed to own a fire arm. Now all sellers of guns, even over the internet, are required to be licensed and preform a background check. This is the largest single expansion of the background check system since its creation.

The EPA published the first ever regulations on PFAS, known as forever chemicals, in drinking water. The new rules would reduce PFAS exposure for 100 million people according to the EPA. The Biden Administration announced along side the EPA regulations it would make available $1 billion dollars for state and local water treatment to help test for and filter out PFAS in line with the new rule. This marks the first time since 1996 that the EPA has passed a drinking water rule for new contaminants.

The Department of Commerce announced a deal with microchip giant TSMC to bring billions in investment and manufacturing to Arizona. The US makes only about 10% of the world's microchips and none of the most advanced chips. Under the CHIPS and Science Act the Biden Administration hopes to expand America's high-tech manufacturing so that 20% of advanced chips are made in America. TSMC makes about 90% of the world's advanced chips. The deal which sees a $6.6 billion dollar grant from the US government in exchange for $65 billion worth of investment by TSMC in 3 high tech manufacturing facilities in Arizona, the first of which will open next year. This represents the single largest foreign investment in Arizona's history and will bring thousands of new jobs to the state and boost America's microchip manufacturing.

The EPA finalized rules strengthening clean air standards around chemical plants. The new rule will lower the risk of cancer in communities near chemical plants by 96% and eliminate 6,200 tons of toxic air pollution each year. The rules target two dangerous cancer causing chemicals, ethylene oxide and chloroprene, the rule will reduce emissions of these chemicals by 80%.

the Department of the Interior announced it had beaten the Biden Administration goals when it comes to new clean energy projects. The Department has now permitted more than 25 gigawatts of clean energy projects on public lands, surpass the Administrations goal for 2025 already. These solar, wind, and hydro projects will power 12 million American homes with totally green power. Currently 10 gigawatts of clean energy are currently being generated on public lands, powering more than 5 million homes across the West. 

The Department of Transportation announced $830 million to support local communities in becoming more climate resilient. The money will go to 80 projects across 37 states, DC, and the US Virgin Islands The projects will help local Infrastructure better stand up to extreme weather causes by climate change.

The Senate confirmed Susan Bazis, Robert White, and Ann Marie McIff Allen to lifetime federal judgeships in Nebraska, Michigan, and Utah respectively. This brings the total number of judges appointed by President Biden to 193

Apply for Student Loan Forgiveness (and Other Ways the Government Can Help You Repay Your Loans)

Apply for Student Loan Forgiveness (and Other Ways the Government Can Help You Repay Your Loans)

Quickly apply for Student Loan Forgiveness and learn other ways the Government can assist you in repaying your loans. godcentvc.com is here to answer the common questions from students who have taken out student loans from government. Most students ask this question: can my federal student loans be forgiven or can I get help in repaying them? The answer is completely YES! Read on to find out how.…

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That's it for me this week!

Five years after U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell aggressively pushed a $1.9 trillion tax cut package that disproportionately benefited corporations and the wealthiest Americans, progressives on Wednesday were uninterested in his complaints about President Joe Biden's cancellation of some student debt for working Americans.

"You should sit this one out," government watchdog Public Citizen suggested after McConnell (R-Ky.) lamented the cancellation plan as a "slap in the face" to borrowers who have paid their debt or didn't go to college.

McConnell warned that by canceling $10,000 in student debt for borrowers who earn $125,000 or less per year, and an additional $10,000 for people who received Pell Grants, the White House is "taking money and purchasing power away from working families and redistributing it to their favored friends."

Political observers noted on Wednesday that Biden's plan is likely to greatly increase purchasing power for families who have been making monthly student loan payments. In addition to wiping out monthly payments for millions of people who carry loan balances of $10,000 or less, the plan includes new rules for income-based repayment plans, ensuring borrowers pay no more than 5% of their discretionary income rather than 10%.

"How dare we try to make life better for the next generation," tweeted Bryan Toporek of Bleacher Report in response to complaints from McConnell and other right-wing critics. "The horror."

Political columnist Liz Dye compared McConnell's comments to hypothetical claims that new gender discrimination laws are "a slap in the face" to anyone who has been sexually harassed in the past.

"Sounds stupid, no?" she tweeted.

Martina Jackson, a Democratic state House candidate in McConnell's home state of Kentucky, replied to the Republican leader's comments on Twitter, telling him, "I have paid student debt."

"It's not a slap in the face," Jackson said. "It's a step in the right direction. We shouldn't be going [into] debt for getting an education."

"Seven federal agencies are partnering to implement President Biden’s American Climate Corps, announcing this week they would work together to recruit 20,000 young Americans and fulfill the administration's vision for the new program. 

The goals spelled out in the memorandum of understanding include comprehensively tackling climate change, creating partnerships throughout various levels of government and the private sector, building a diverse corps and serving all American communities.

The agencies—which included the departments of Commerce, Interior, Agriculture, Labor and Energy, as well the Environmental Protection Agency and AmeriCorps—also vowed to ensure a “range of compensation and benefits” that open the positions up to a wider array of individuals and to create pathways to “high-quality employment.”  

Leaders from each of the seven agencies will form an executive committee for the Climate Corps, which Biden established in September, that will coordinate efforts with an accompanying working group. They will create the standards for ACC programs, set compensation guidelines and minimum terms of service, develop recruitment strategies, launch a centralized website and establish performance goals and objectives. The ACC groups will, beginning in January, hold listening sessions with potential applicants, labor unions, state and local governments, educational institutions and other stakeholders. 

The working group will also review all federal statutes and hiring authorities to remove any barriers to onboarding for the corps and standardize the practices across all participating agencies. Benefits for corps members will include housing, transportation, health care, child care, educational credit, scholarships and student loan forgiveness, stipends and non-financial services.

As part of the goal of the ACC, agencies will develop the corps so they can transition to “high-quality, family-sustaining careers with mobility potential” in the federal or other sectors. AmeriCorps CEO Michael Smith said the initiative would prepare young people for “good-paying union jobs.” 

Within three weeks of rolling out the ACC, EPA said more than 40,000 people—mostly in the 18-35 age range—expressed interest in joining the corps. The administration set an ambitious goal for getting the program underway, aiming to establish the corps’ first cohort in the summer of 2024. 

The corps members will work in roles related to ecosystem restoration and conservation, reforestation, waterway protection, recycling, energy conservation, clean energy deployment, disaster preparedness and recovery, fire resilience, resilient recreation infrastructure, research and outreach. The administration will look to ensure 40% of the climate-related investments flow to disadvantaged communities as part of its Justice40 initiative.  

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the MOU would allow the ACC to “work across the federal family” to push public projects focused on environmental justice and clean energy. 

“The Climate Corps represents a significant step forward in engaging and nurturing young leaders who are passionate about climate action, furthering our journey towards a sustainable and equitable future,” Regan said. 

The ACC’s executive committee will hold its first meeting within the next 30 days. It will draw support from a new climate hub within AmeriCorps, as well as any staffing the agency heads designate."

-via Government Executive, December 20, 2023

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This news comes with your regularly scheduled reminder that WE GOT THE AMERICAN CLIMATE CORPS ESTABLISHED LAST YEAR and basically no one know about/remembers it!!! Also if you want more info about the Climate Corps, inc. how to join, you can sign up to get updates here.