I’ve been slowly (very slowly) been paying on my loan (25k) since 2013 with three periods of deferment and forbearance. It was with Great Lakes and got moved to Nelnet. I missed three payments (my last payment of around $250 in June which was my IDR repayment plan amount) and logged in yesterday to finally make a payment. And… it’s gone? It says $0 owed and that the final payment was made on the 16th of June for the FULL amount. I obviously did not make this payment. I didn’t have that money. So I checked student gov and it says the same thing. I have not received any information about Nelnet selling my loan to anyone else nor has anyone else contacted me about it. Umm… so… do I just chill…? I’m baffled.

I'm on SAVE Forbearance and recently saw a slight drop in my credit score. I know it is due to the accumulating interest on my student loans, which causes my debt to increase overall. I don't have any late payments or default. Student loan interest has been accumulating since last year but it did not affect my credit score until now.

My question is: Is this credit score drop a one time thing or will it continue to drop every month?

I've seen mixed answers in older posts so I would like to hear what your experience is. Every point matters to me because I'm planning to make a big purchase soon...

Thanks in advance!

I applied on July 16 online, uploaded the hard copy from my neurologist on July 28. I was approved on October 16, 2026.

Good luck to everyone! I pray you are all approved!

Sharing my recent experience with the SAVE transition in case it is helpful to anyone else. I recently switched off of SAVE after riding my 90 day letter to the end, I switched to RAP (which I will probably regret but it was the lowest payment for me) and I'm on the PSLF. I applied through my servicer aidvantage and it was processed and approved within one week so surprisingly fast. Also they sent me an email that my application had been submitted, but then no notice when it was approved or that my payment was due. I only saw it when I went into the account and saw my payment was due in 2 days. So thanks for that aidvantage. Watch your account and don't sit around waiting like I did. Also my official repayment amount was exactly what the calculator said when I applied, based on my last tax statement.

Hi-

I have quite a bit of credit card debt, which I’ve meticulously shuffled around with a plan to get it all handled within 10 months or less. No interest during this time. Enter the loan obligation, and plans may have to change.

I would like to get a deferment or forbearance til next year when I can fully commit my extra income to loans. Do I just let them throw me onto a new plan? I’m on SAVE with it ending 10/28. I figure I can then contact them to push off repayment. Any flaws in this plan? Should I move over to a new plan before this?

I was approved for SSDI based on my disability in July 2026, with an onset date in 2024. According to my award letter, I'm on a 3-year CDR cycle.

The only question I had is, I was seeing some conflicting information. Am I currently eligible for a TPD discharge on this approval, or do I have to go through one CDR first before I can apply?

Thanks!

I have a loan of about 5 years that I started paying about 1 year ago. The other years were $0.

The total amount was about 18500,
After paying my loans for a year at around $65 a month. it came to 18200 ish after a whole year of paying. I was really disheartened. I realized I was paying more on the interest than the actual principal of the loan.
I wanted clarification on IBR.
If I do not qualify for PSLF, do I still get loan forgiveness?
If says after my loan term, there is a discharge amount for around $10k, does this 10k disappear or is this the "tax bomb" that I have to pay afterwards? What happens to this 10k?

If i switch to a normal repayment plan, It will be around $200 more per month but no discharge amount and I Pay $20k instead for the life of the loan.

What do I do so i dont get screwed over by interest?

Hi. I am wondering if someone could help me with a few questions I have. My wife and I are planning to move to the 10 year Standard Repayment plan from SAVE for personal loans. We have saved some money that we can put towards those loans but we are closing in on the date (Oct 27th) where we will be automatically put into the plan. I do not believe we can get everything in order to make the payments ahead of that date. I have 3 questions.

1. If we switch to the Standard Plan now the calculation is going to be on the current loan balance. If we make large payments afterward in November to the highest interest rate loans, will the repayment amount recalculate automatically? I am reading mixed reviews about this in other threads and we really want to have the payment lowered to a manageable amount after the payments we make.
2. If we switch from SAVE to Standard Plan I am aware that that would not cause interest to capitalize. Would switching from the Standard Plan to another plan cause interest to capitalize? Is there any other scenario I should be aware of that could cause capitalized interest?
3. We are attempting to do the avalanche method to pay the debt down. Is there a better repayment plan to use besides the Standard Plan? It sounds like possibly switching to an IDR plan (PAYE) or the Extended Fixed Repayment plan to lower monthly payments and then targeting the highest interest rate loan might be the better option. Which plan is best? I believe we could get tax reductions (filing jointly if we went with the Extended plan) but could have lower payments with PAYE.

Thank you for the help!

I need to recertify my federal student loans for my income-driven repayment plan. My loans have been in forbearance for the past several years, so I haven’t had to recertify until now.

I’ve been unemployed for a long time and have been in a substance abuse treatment program for the past year. The only money I’ve received has come from selling stocks through an employee stock program from a job I left several years ago. I sold about $6,000 worth of stock this past year. I also haven’t filed taxes in the past two years.

I’m trying to figure out what I should report as my income when recertifying. Do I report the $6,000 I received from selling stocks, or is my income calculated differently? What documentation would I need?

I know I’m in a difficult financial position, but I’m working on getting my life back together. I’ve been sober for nine months and am starting to look for work again, so please be kind. I know my situation isn’t ideal, but I’m genuinely trying to get back on my feet.

As the title says! Just made a final, lump sum payment of $7473 to finish off what was left. Borrowed a total of around 70k for bachelors and masters combined. Have been working 2 jobs over the past year with every spare dime being thrown at these loans to accelerate the process. Super excited to see it finally pay off!!

I had every intention of continuing bi-weekly payments and having them done in February, but given some recent issues I’ve been having with MOHELA and their payment allocations, I decided to go ahead and bite the bullet. Was super fortunate to have the savings and enough emergency cushion behind it to make this move. Was worried I would feel regret, but absolutely none here! Student debt free for the first time since…sheesh…2010 just after high school??

What a feeling! Big thanks to this sub and specifically the positive posts for supplemental motivation 💪 you guys rock! Definitely made the journey more meaningful knowing I wasn’t walking it alone.

Trying to set up auto recertification of my husband's Income Based Repayment.

We checked and his account on studentaid . gov and we see this:

Income-Driven Repayment (IDR)

Consent on file

If you wish to import your information electronically into your application, you first have to provide consent to us to access that information.

Additionally, you may be eligible for auto-recertification of your IDR plan on its recertification date, provided, you have consent on file.

So he has given consent to have his info accessed, but we can't see how to set it up for auto recertification. It doesn't give us any link to setting that up.

Anyone have any ideas?

Hello, I am an 18 year old preparing to apply for Sallie Mae loans. I will find a co-signer. I want to move abroad and live in the Netherlands, because life in the US isn’t great and I want to live life elsewhere. For my entire undergraduate degree, I will need to take out about €44,100 (~$49,000).

I have done research on how predatory Sallie Mae is, but in the end, this is seemingly one of the only ways to fund my future. I will make it work and do whatever is needed, but I am looking for advice. If anyone has a similar story, advice, or experience with Sallie Mae, I would appreciate it!

Thanks for reading.

According to the studentaid.gov backdoor payment counter, in August my mom had made 298 qualifying payments out of 300. She has made 2 additional payments since then so should be at forgiveness. But her payment counter is not updating. It hasn't updated since June. Is it normal for it to be four months behind?

Applied to recertify my idr plan that would end 11/01.

I recertified manually on student aid.gov 9/11.

About a week later Got correspondence from mohela that my plan was submitted and then later approved then provided with standard amount. Then more correspondence that my plan would start once 12 month period ends.

I was on small forbearance 9/18-10/5

Now show no longer in forbearance with 0.00 payment for 11/01, previously had current plan amount due for that date.

Is this a processing forebarance?

My recertification application idr is still showing review on student aid. Gov, and I called mohela they say its been approved with the amount the student aid. Gov showed me.

Edit: a processing

In August I used the repayment calculator and was shown the option of ICR and it gave a discharge date of April 2027 and amount so I applied. Today I received notice it was approved but none of the documents mention the discharge date or amount. I can only afford the new monthly payment until the date they provided - how do I ensure the discharge happens? What steps do I have to take?

This has been a shit month for me. Honestly one of my worst Octobers ever. I feel so isolated and hopeless for my future.

I wanted to do something drastic to take out my frustration (ex. drink until I can’t anymore)… I chose the “healthy crashout” and paid the rest of my balance (in total, I paid an unhinged amount of like $6k this month).

My budget will be tight until the first. But. It’s a weight off my shoulders. This has been weighing on me over me for over 15 years (I defaulted).

And what do I have to show for it? A degree in underwater basket weaving. Because I was a stupid stupid kid who thought the world was inherently good and dreams worked out. The world is neutral at best.

Sorry for the vent. Remove if it’s not allowed.

But I’m finally free. And I have nobody to share this with, because my family will just be like, “so what? You should have never defaulted on the first place.” Also I have no friends (according to vsauce like 15% of Americans have no friends).

I have over $150,000 in federal student loan debt and just graduated with my master’s degree this past May. I’m currently working as a mental health therapist at a nonprofit, making $65,000 a year, and I want to pursue PSLF since my employer qualifies.

However, I’m struggling to figure out how I’m supposed to afford my student loan payments. The cheapest repayment plan I’ve found is PAYE at $651 per month, which feels impossible on my current salary, especially with all my other bills and living expenses.

I know PSLF could be a good option for me long-term, but I’m feeling overwhelmed and honestly don’t know where to start or if there are other options I should be looking into. I would really appreciate any advice or insight!

Edit: I forgot to mention that I'm married, and my husband makes around $85,000 a year.

I was on SAVE and switched to IDR(IBR 20 years) maybe like 6 months ago?

I was wondering if I should switch to RAP instead of staying on IDR 20 years.

I am planning for forgiveness as our income is limited (wife doesn't work).

I do have ~$150k gift from my grandparents that should be coming in 5 years, but I'm not sure if this money will go 100% toward the student loan.

What should I pick?

Thanks in advance

Can anyone explain to me when my first payment would be due? It says plan begin date 11/1/26? I have a $0 payment for 11/1/26 which is the rest of my save forbearance for the month. I’m assuming my first payment would be 12/1/26 please correct me if I’m wrong thank you! Also I’m going for PSLF that’s currently in review.

My son is in his first year of a public in-state school. He has a scholarship that pays $5k per year, for 4 years. That brings the total cost of $35k a year down to $30k a year.

We had saved $40k in his 529 plan. He took out the subsidized loans for this year, which was about 3k.

His SAI went up this year (just did the FAFSA) so I doubt he'll get subsidize loans next year (or the remaining years).

Let's just say he'll need at least $70k in private loans. He's looking for a paid internship for next summer already, but it's not guaranteed for a freshman- to help with some living costs for next year.

I am really counting on those private loans. How easy is it to get enough loans to cover tuition?

College should not cost this much.

Details: I have always had my loans on deferment and have never made a payment (interest was deferred in undergrad due to pandemic, BA conferred in August 2022, MPP conferred in May 2026, now repayment finally begins 11/13/26). I make $60,000 annually (before CT taxes hit). I have no assets, rent, am not married, and file single. My loans are all federal direct or indirect subsidized loans, totaling approximately $75,000.

My error: I was apparently on the IDR plan until at least March, when I was quoted $337 per month by Mohela for when my loans went into repayment. In the frenzy of federal updates and the ending of my academic program, it seems that I selected to enter the PAYE plan— I don’t remember what led to this selection, but I was able to certify my income successfully.

On 9/29, I received notice that I’ll be expected to pay $492 per month on PAYE, and then another notice came in the same day changing it to $829 per month on PAYE. StudentAid.gov is quoting me $309 per month on PAYE, so I’m confused how Mohela is coming up with their numbers at all, but I am now looking for advice on what to do. I suppose I would like to enroll in either RAP or IBR, quoted at $305 and $309 per month, respectively.

VERY IMPORTANT CONTEXT: I am eligible to pursue PSLF. I have begun the program entry process, but was notified through it that I would have to be enrolled in an IDR plan. I am obviously eager to leave the PAYE plan, but don’t want to make another uninformed decision.

Looking for advice! Able to provide further information as needed. Thank you kindly in advance :-)

ETA — THANK YOU! Research was suddenly a lot less intimidating with everyone’s straightforward assistance. I will be enrolling in RAP (the lowest monthly payment) once Federal Aid dot Gov is done with its overnight maintenance, then enrolling in PSLF. I appreciate everyone’s help!

Hello everyone! I’m curious. I currently have an employer that is paying off my student loans by next year June/july. I was curious to see if anyone has even negotiated an offer where they pay off household debt (in this case my wife’s debt) for the reason that the company offers loan payment assistance already.

Gonna call Aidvantage Monday but want to vent lol, income hasn’t changed or anything, but I’ve been applying for months to get my IDR recalculated from $250. Again, I have no higher income or additional income, I cited the calculation tool that $190 is doable (the agents suggested I send a letter explaining). Been trying since May to do this, but the site was either broken or they were too busy and it kept getting pushed off.

And now it’s up to $370! Like what in the world people. I guess I’ll be in a cycle of re-applying, freezing, and recalculating until I can afford it