The Cost Of A Good Education

It is no secret that the student loan industry has grown to epic proportions in recent years. With so many college hopefuls turning to private and subsidized loans just to cover the basic financing needs for a college education, the student loan lending industry has become extremely greedy. A recent study revealed that the federal government made enough  money in student loan debt interest payments to provide the maximum Pell grant for some millions students in the next year.

What The Future Holds

For college students and hopefuls, the costs of education are not expected to decrease or  level out any time soon. The availability of grants becomes slimmer each semester and loans are becoming more rampant. However, this doesn’t mean that options for resolving already held student  loan debts are shrinking. In fact, the opposite is true.

There is a push for legislation to reinstate the eligibility of student loan debts for bankruptcy cases. While this would greatly help millions of newly minted degree holders some flexibility in their finances, it would most likely still exempt federal loans from a discharge. In such cases there are still other government backed options for finding relief for student loan debts.

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program offers a reduced payment plan, along with a full loan balance forgiveness after 10 years of payment, for persons in a public service field. Teachers, social workers and the like may be qualified for help under this program. The Income Based Repayment program is also available for federal loan borrowers that calculates your monthly payment as no more than 15% of your monthly disposable income. Borrowers whose income falls below the poverty level may qualify for the Pay As You Earn Repayment Plan that offers payments less than 10% of your monthly disposable income.

There are many other programs available. Consult with a Fort Worth bankruptcy attorney to discuss your eligibility for a debt discharge or the best debt relief program for you.