Easing student-loan repayments

You can't walk away from student-loan debt. It's practically impossible to get it discharged through bankruptcy, and there's no statute of limitations on how long lenders can pursue you through collections. The government can withhold tax refunds and garnish wages indefinitely. Under...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Courier
Main Author Alderman, Jason
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Houma, La Halifax Media Group 07.01.2012
Subjects
Student loans
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Summary:You can't walk away from student-loan debt. It's practically impossible to get it discharged through bankruptcy, and there's no statute of limitations on how long lenders can pursue you through collections. The government can withhold tax refunds and garnish wages indefinitely. Under the recent IBR enhancements, for students who took out their first loan during or after 2008 and open at least one additional loan during or after 2012, the cap will drop from 15 to 10 percent and the forgiveness period to 20 years. Those with older loans can still benefit from the original IBR terms. n All Stafford, PLUS and Consolidation loans made under either the Direct Loan program or the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program qualify for IBR, except loans in default, Parent PLUS Loans or Consolidation Loans containing Parent PLUS Loans.