When people who are struggling with student loans look to ways to get rid of them, they assume that bankruptcy is the only option. Then they are told the myth that student loans can’t be discharged in bankruptcy and think that there is nothing they can do. They are stuck with the loans for the rest of their lives.
However, for many people, there are discharge options outside of bankruptcy that can give them the relief that they need, under certain circumstances. So on this episode of the podcast, I discuss the administrative discharge of federal loans and New Jersey CLASS loans. If you have a loan from another state, check out whether they have these same options.
Most of what you read online about student loans tends to focus on struggling college graduates who can’t repay their debt. Difficulty finding a job, the costs of living like rent and a vehicle competing for those income dollars, and insanely high loan balances upon graduation, combine to make repayment seem beyond reach.
But what about their parents? We hardly ever hear about the moms and dads who are stuck repaying Parent PLUS Loans for children that they put through college. According to an article on the web site Student Loan Hero, Parent PLUS loan debt currently stands at about $77.8 billion.
On top of that, these loans have the highest interest rates among all federal student loans. For the 2017-18 school year, the rate is 7.0%, and older Parent PLUS loans could have rates above 7%.
So in this episode of the podcast I wanted to talk about what parents can do to fit their loan payments more affordably into their finances.