#save plan

The Biden administration yesterday rolled out its latest tool to tackle the student debt crisis, and as we discussed earlier this year, it’s a good one. While the administration is still working on a broader debt forgiveness plan that it hopes will survive the Trump/McConnell Supreme Court, the new income-driven repayment program, called the “Saving on a Valuable Education” (SAVE) plan, should drastically cut the amount of student loan payments for lower-income borrowers, and for many, will actually get those payments down to zero.

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With the SAVE plan, the Education Department will no longer charge any interest that isn’t covered by the monthly loan payment, putting an end to the interest-accumulating hamster wheel that so many of us know all too well, where you make your payments on time but your goddamn loan balance keeps growing. As the fact sheet explains:

For example, if a borrower has $50 in interest that accumulates each month and their payment is $30 per month under the new SAVE plan, the remaining $20 would not be charged as long as they make their $30 monthly payment. The Department of Education estimates that 70 percent of borrowers who were on an IDR plan before the payment pause would stand to benefit from this change.

As I'm sure many of us did, I just got an email from the Department of Education recommending that i switch back to an IBR plan instead of staying on the SAVE plan, since the SAVE forbearance on interest is ending soon and the interest will start accruing again.

With the uncertainty about what is going to happen to student loans/the SAVE plan, between the court case(s?) and the monster in the oval office, I'm not sure what to do. I would obviously rather stay on the much better SAVE plan, but if the benefits of that plan are going to be gutted anyway...

Any advice on what to do here?

Thank you!

Keeping in mind that we are not legal professionals...

Don't comply in advance. This goes for most things the Trump administration is "going" to do, but especially for things that are being challenged in the courts. Stick with the current plan until you're forced to change.

Here's more on student loans. We hope it helps get you through this:

What We Talk About When We Talk About Student Loans

I Paid off My Student Loans Ahead of Schedule. Here's How.

When (And How) To Try Refinancing or Consolidating Student Loans

Ask the Bitches: “The Government Put Student Loans in Forbearance. Can I Stop Paying—or Is It a Trap?”

Our Final Word on Student Loan Forgiveness

this is america-centric but pls spread this around if you think any of ur mutuals could use the info.

If you're currently shitting yourself thinking how you're gonna start making student loan payments again, I suggest taking a deep breath, first off. Get comfy, put on some music and strap in.

If you got your student loans through the Federal Student Aid program FAFSA, then you can apply for an IDR (Income Driven Repayment plan) called SAVE.

what is SAVE?

This got my $115 monthly payment down to $40 a month, if you don't work or you can't afford much, this has the potential to reduce your payment even further.

Alls you need to do is go to https://studentaid.gov/idr/ and log into your federal student aid account, there's a section for both first time applicants and returning borrowers who previously may have had an IDR.

Even if you've done an IDR before! Look into the SAVE plan!! It forgave about 10k of debt for me!

Anyway, first time applicants can click the first option, "Apply for an Income-Driven Repayment Plan" and just go through and answer all their prompts, make sure you have all your financial information on hand (tax returns, most recent pay stub, etc) and go through the prompts until it gives you the option to apply for the SAVE plan. CLICK IT!

It should let you know at the end exactly how much you'll be paying per month and you should get an email confirmation as well. Any account specific questions should be directed to their call center +1 (800) 433-3243

GOOD LUCK AND BE PATIENT, THE SITE IS SLOW AS SHIT.

DON'T GIVE UP! I BELIEVE IN YOU!!

And they have half the country defending their choice to drown us in debt with "You shouldn't have taken out loans if you couldn't afford them."

Okay, so... Who is it that you suggest do like... any of the jobs then? Rich people don't go into teaching. They don't go into nursing. They don't become counselors, librarians, social workers, video game designers, journalists, pastors, hotel managers, dieticians, interior designers, archaeologists, physical therapists, human resources specialists, researchers, or accountants.

These are all jobs that DO require (by law) or almost always require (by employers) a bachelor's degree or higher.

You know who works those jobs? Regular people. The cheapest 4-year university in my state is $12,000/year. Nobody I know that's willing to become a teacher can afford $48,000 without a loan. That's more than the starting salary for a teacher at a lot of districts.

So, do tell. Who is it that you want to do these jobs? Which of these CEOs are you nominating to leave behind their 6-7 figure salaries to run your local library or teach at public schools? Which one do you think is willing to stop living comfortably to work in HR? Social work? Ministry?

No, your regular, Average Joe's are the ones doing 99% of the jobs in your own community. And almost none of them can afford college without a loan.

So when we say that we need some student loan relief, it's because we can't keep living this way. It is VITAL that people continue to go to college for this country to run. But there HAS to be some way to make this accessible and affordable to the normal people who actually do these jobs. We CANNOT keep drowning and going without decent food, shelter, etc. to get these degrees that are required for low-paying (BUT VERY NECESSARY) jobs.

The people - Republicans AND Democrats - that are up there refusing us that relief aren't going without. More than half of the US Congressmembers are millionaires. The richest ones are worth hundreds of millions. THOSE people, living so comfortably, are denying those of us who make $48k any relief from the debt they're (intentionally) drowning us in.

They refuse to set a higher minimum wage. They refuse to give us student loan relief. They refuse to control the cost of housing, healthcare, childcare, interest rates, or even fucking groceries. They're certainly not going without any of these things.

But we are.

I'll say it again for the people in the back:

Current relief programs: Better than nothing, but still not enough 🏊‍♀️

SAVE PLAN: THE GAME-CHANGER (MAYBE)

💡 WHAT SAVE ACTUALLY DOES:

🎯 Payment based on ACTUAL living costs (not arbitrary formulas)

💰 $0 payments if you earn less than $32,400/year

📉 Only 5% of income above basic needs goes to loans

🚫 Interest forgiveness: Unpaid interest gets CANCELLED (not added to balance)

⏰ 20-year forgiveness for undergraduate loans (25 for grad school)

🏛️ Automatic enrollment for some borrowers

📊 REAL EXAMPLES:

Case 1: Teacher Earning $45,000Before SAVE: $350/month payment With SAVE: $89/month payment Annual savings: $3,132 Interest growth: STOPPED

Case 2: Social Worker Earning $35,000Before SAVE: $280/month payment With SAVE: $14/month payment Annual savings: $3,192 Interest growth: STOPPED

Case 3: Unemployed Recent GraduateBefore SAVE: $300/month payment (forbearance trap) With SAVE: $0/month payment Interest accrual: $0 (instead of $200/month)

WHY SAVE IS REVOLUTIONARY:

🔥 BREAKS THE INTEREST TRAP:

Old system: Pay $200/month, owe $300 in interest = debt grows $100/month

SAVE system: Pay $200/month, owe $300 in interest = extra $100 forgiven

Result: Your debt can NEVER grow if you make payments

⚡ IMMEDIATE RELIEF:

8 million borrowers already enrolled

4.5 million qualified for $0 payments

Average savings: $3,000+ annually

Mental health impact: Stress reduction, hope restoration

BUT CONSERVATIVES ARE TRYING TO KILL IT:

⚖️ REPUBLICAN LAWSUITS:

Multiple states suing: Claiming it's "too generous"

Court challenges: Trying to block implementation

Congressional attacks: Bills to eliminate SAVE entirely

Supreme Court threat: Could overturn like previous forgiveness

💸 THEIR ARGUMENTS:

"Too expensive" (but military budgets are fine)

"Unfair to past borrowers" (crabs-in-bucket mentality)

"Encourages irresponsibility" (wanting education is irresponsible?)

"Taxpayer burden" (corporate subsidies are fine though)

PSLF: PUBLIC SERVICE FORGIVENESS (FINALLY WORKING)

✅ WHAT PSLF OFFERS:

Full forgiveness after 10 years of public service

Qualifying jobs: Government, nonprofits, teaching, social work, military

No tax penalty on forgiven amount

All loan types eligible (with Direct Loan consolidation)

📈 SUCCESS STATS (AFTER FIXES):

Before 2021: 2% approval rate (due to bureaucratic sabotage)

After waiver: 98% approval rate for eligible borrowers

Total forgiven: $30+ billion to 450,000+ borrowers

Average forgiveness: $67,000 per borrower

🎯 WHO'S GETTING RELIEF:

Teachers: 200,000+ approved

Nurses/Healthcare: 150,000+ approved

Social workers: 50,000+ approved

Government employees: 100,000+ approved

Military/Police: 25,000+ approved

TARGETED FORGIVENESS PROGRAMS:

🏫 CLOSED SCHOOL DISCHARGE:

For students whose schools closed while enrolled

Automatic relief: No application required for most

Recent actions: $6 billion forgiven for 200,000 students

Major closures: Corinthian, ITT Tech, Art Institute chain

♿ TOTAL & PERMANENT DISABILITY DISCHARGE:

For borrowers unable to work due to disability

Streamlined process: Automatic for some SSDI recipients

Recent improvements: 400,000 borrowers identified for automatic relief

Amount: $6 billion in forgiveness

🎖️ VETERAN-SPECIFIC RELIEF:

Service-connected disability: Automatic discharge for 100% disabled veterans

Military service credit: Counts toward PSLF

Interest rate caps: 6% maximum during active duty

INCOME-DRIVEN REPAYMENT (IDR) FIXES:

📅 IDR ACCOUNT ADJUSTMENT:

Credit for past payments: Retroactive credit for forbearance periods

Payment counting fix: Payments that should have counted now do

Forgiveness timeline: Some getting immediate forgiveness

Relief so far: $45 billion to 930,000 borrowers

🔄 HOW THE FIX WORKS:Example: Borrower with 25 years of payments Previous count: 180 qualifying payments After adjustment: 300 qualifying payments Result: Immediate forgiveness (25-year threshold met)

THE LIMITATIONS OF CURRENT RELIEF:

🚫 WHAT'S STILL BROKEN:

Private Loans:

No federal programs apply to private loans

No bankruptcy protection (same as federal)

No forgiveness options regardless of circumstances

8% of borrowers completely left out

Parent PLUS Loans:

No borrowing limits (parents can borrow full cost)

Higher interest rates than student loans

Limited relief options under current programs

Retirement destruction: Many parents facing garnished Social Security

Graduate School Debt:

Higher balances than undergraduate loans

Longer forgiveness timelines (25 years vs 20)

Professional school debt often exceeds $200,000

Career limitations: Can't take lower-paying public service jobs

THE BUREAUCRATIC SABOTAGE PROBLEM:

🏛️ LOAN SERVICER OBSTRUCTION:

Deliberate misinformation about relief programs

Application "processing errors" that delay relief

Phone representatives trained to discourage applications

Website crashes during enrollment periods

Real Examples:

PSLF applications: Servicers told qualified borrowers they didn't qualify

SAVE enrollment: Websites mysteriously down during high-traffic periods

IDR applications: "Lost" paperwork requiring multiple resubmissions

Forgiveness delays: Qualified borrowers waiting months for processing

THE POLITICAL BATTLEFIELD:

🔵 BIDEN ADMINISTRATION ACHIEVEMENTS:

$138 billion forgiven through various programs

8.5 million borrowers received some relief

Administrative improvements: Streamlined processes, better oversight

Future plans: More targeted relief, continued SAVE expansion

🔴 REPUBLICAN OPPOSITION:

House bills to eliminate SAVE plan

State lawsuits to block relief programs

Supreme Court appeals to overturn forgiveness

Campaign promises to end all relief if elected

⚖️ LEGAL UNCERTAINTY:

Court challenges create constant threat to programs

Borrower confusion about which programs will survive

Planning impossible when relief could disappear

Political football: Relief depends on election outcomes

WHAT CURRENT RELIEF ACTUALLY MEANS:

✅ FOR THOSE WHO QUALIFY:

Immediate financial relief from lower payments

Mental health improvement from reduced stress

Career flexibility to take lower-paying meaningful work

Future planning possible with forgiveness timeline

❌ FOR THOSE LEFT OUT:

Private loan borrowers: No relief available

High-income borrowers: Minimal payment reduction

Past borrowers: No retroactive relief for paid loans

Future students: Nothing prevents continued debt accumulation

THE BIGGER PICTURE:

🏥 TREATING SYMPTOMS, NOT DISEASE: Current relief programs help people trapped in the system but don't prevent new victims:

College costs continue rising

New borrowers enter the trap every semester

Systemic issues remain unaddressed

Private lenders continue predatory practices

🔄 THE CYCLE CONTINUES:

Relief helps current borrowers

New students still need massive loans

Colleges raise prices knowing aid is available

Next generation faces same crisis

BOTTOM LINE:

Current relief programs are life-changing for those who qualify but they're band-aids on a gaping wound. We need systemic change, not just individual relief.

Next up: The political battle over student debt forgiveness 🗳️

These programs prove relief is possible - which makes it even more infuriating that we don't do more. 💪

GOTO NEXT POST -> CLICK!

Millions of Americans have student debt on their minds heading into the ballot box this year — especially women of color, who are disproportionately impacted by this burden. 👩🏿‍🎓👩🏽‍🎓👩🏾‍🎓👩🏻‍🎓

The politicians WE elect can create policies to address student debt relief, college affordability, and repayment plans. Student debt is on the ballot in 2024, and we’ll be voting. 🗳️