student loans

PRESIDENT BIDEN CANCELS STUDENT DEBT FOR OVER 150,000 STUDENT LOAN BORROWERS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE

East County News Service

February 21, 2024 (Washington D.C.) -- President Joe Biden today announced the approval of $1.2 billion in student debt cancellation for almost 153,000 borrowers currently enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE, repayment plan.

The borrowers receiving relief are the first to benefit from a SAVE plan policy that provides debt forgiveness to borrowers who have been in repayment after as little as 10 years and took out $12,000 or less in student loans. Originally planned for July, the Biden-Harris Administration implemented this provision of SAVE and is providing relief to borrowers nearly six months ahead of schedule.

The Biden-Harris Administration has now approved nearly $138 billion in student debt cancellation for almost 3.9 million borrowers through more than two dozen executive actions.


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GOT STUDENT LOANS? APPLICATION NOW OPEN FOR NEW STUDENT DEBT RELIEF PLAN OFFERED BY BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

By Miriam Raftery

August 23, 2023  (Washington D.C.) – On Tuesday, the Biden launched an application for a new student loan repayment plan called the SAVE Plan, or  Saving on a Valuable Education Plan. Borrowers can sign up and learn details at https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/save-plan .

This is a revised plan after an earlier effort to forgive student loans was blocked by the Supreme Court, though Republicans have also filed a challenge to the new plan.

The new SAVE plan calculates repayment based on the borrower’s income family size. According to the White House fact sheet, it will cut many borrowers’ monthly payments to zero,  save others around  $1,000 a year,  and prevent balances from growing because of unpaid interest. 

Specifically, the SAVE plan will:


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OVER 400,000 SAN DIEGO COUNTY STUDENTS ELIGIBLE FOR PARTIAL LOAN FORGIVENESS, BUT LESS THAN HALF HAVE APPLIED AS PROGRAM HANGS IN LEGAL LIMBO

 

Federal government releases breakdown by Congressional district as Supreme Court readies to hear cases challenging program

By Miriam Raftery

February 17,2023 (San Diego)—The U.S. Department of Education has released a chart showing federal student loan forgiveness applications and approvals broken down by Congressional district.  The data shows that “In every single congressional district, at least half of eligible borrowers either applied or were deemed auto-eligible for debt relief, and that was only in the one month that the application was available before the program got blocked because of lawsuits.”

Nationally, about 40 million student borrowers were eligible for the program and around 26 million applications were received, of which 16 million were approved before a court blocked the program pending review by the U.S. Supreme Court, leaving borrowers in limbo for now.

In San Diego County, over 400,000 borrowers would be eligible for the loan forgiveness, if the high court allows it to move forward.  Over 240,000 of those have applied and around 154,000 local borrowers have been approved.

Here is the breakdown by district:


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REP. ISSA CRITICIZED STUDENT LOAN DEBT FORGIVENESS, BUT HIS COMPANY HAD $151,131 FEDERAL LOAN FORGIVEN

Update Nov. 15, 2022:  A federal appeals court has blocked the student loan forgiveness plan.  The Biden Administration is likely to appeal the decision.

 

By Miriam Raftery

October 7, 2022 (San Diego) – Congressman Darrell Issa has been sharply critical of President Joe Biden for cancelling a small percentage (10-20%) of student loan debts. But Greene Properties in Vista, for which Issa is listed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), pocketed $151,313 in federal loan forgiveness on a Paycheck Protection Plan (PPP) loan during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The company’s website had since gone dark, offline for at least the past several weeks.


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BIDEN ADMINISTRATION FORGIVES PARTIAL STUDENT LOANS OF THOSE EARNING UNDER $125,000

White House fires back at critics who had federal loans forgiven too

By Miriam Raftery

August 27. 2022 (Washington D.C.) – If you have a federal student loan and earn less than $125,000 a year, you are eligible to have $10,000 forgiven – or $20,000 if you were a recipient of a Pell Grant awarded to help low-income students attend college.

President Joe Biden announced the plan this week, also extended a pause on student loan repayments until December 31. In addition, Biden’s plan caps future repayments at 5% of your monthly income, down from the current 10% threshold.

An application for the partial student loan forgiveness will be posted later this year; borrowers can sign up at https://www.ed.gov/subscriptions to receive updates on the federal student loans.


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GARNISHMENT OF SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS FOR STUDENT LOANS IN DEFAULT SUSPENDED INDEFINITELY, AMAC SAYS IT WILL FIGHT TO MAKE IT PERMANENT

Source:   Association of Mature American Citizens 

Image by 3D Animation Production Company on Pixabay

March 25, 2020 (Washington, D.C.) - The Trump Administration has put a timely halt on the ability of the government to garnish Social Security benefits to pay for defaulted student loans for an indefinite period during the COVID crisis, reports the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC]. 


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CONGRESSWOMAN DAVIS INTRODUCES BILL TO END STUDENT LOAN TAX

East County News Service

July 13, 2019 (Washington, D.C.) - Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-CA), Chair of the Higher Education and Workforce Investment Subcommittee,  Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA), Ranking Member of the subcommittee, and Rep. Sharice Davids (D-KS) have introduced legislation to eliminate all administrative fees on federal student loans, which would save students over $1.7 billion per year.


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CALHEALTHCARES TO PAY OFF $58.6 MILLION IN LOANS FOR 247 PHYSICIANS WHO COMMIT TO SERVE MEDI-CAL PATIENTS

Source:  CalHealthCares

July 2, 2019 (Sacramento) - Physicians for a Healthy California (PHC) announced a commitment to pay off $58.6 million in student loans for 247 physicians under a new program created to expand access to care for Medi-Cal patients.


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REP. SUSAN DAVIS' BILL WOULD HELP BORROWERS PAY DOWN STUDENT LOANS FASTER

 

March 13, 2014 (Washington D.C.)-- Being able to pay extra on a student loan can provide peace of mind that a financial burden is shrinking faster than usual. That’s until you learn that the extra money has been applied to future payments and interest, reducing your ability to pay down the principal.  Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-San Diego) introduced legislation today that would require extra payments on student loans go toward the principal of the loan first.


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CONGRESSWONAN DAVIS COAUTHORS BILL TO BLOCK RATE HIKE ON STUDENT LOANS

 

April 24, 2013 (Washington D.C.)--Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-CA) cosponsored legislation to block the doubling of interest rates on Stafford student loans set to kick in July of this year.  The Student Loan Relief Act (H.R. 1595) would continue the current 3.4% rate through 2015.

“We need to ensure that access to higher education stays within the reach of middle class and lower-income families,” said Davis, a senior member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee. “If we want our children - and America, for that matter - to be competitive in the global economy, access to an affordable college education will be key.”


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READER'S EDITORIAL: THE COMING STUDENT LOAN FREIGHT TRAIN

By Jake Christie

March 2, 2013 (San Diego’s East County)--I could’ve called it a “bomb” or a “fiasco”, but I prefer to call the mess that is the American private and public student loan system a “freight train” because the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming high-speed double diesel pulling 25 cars full of heavy loads.  The numbers surrounding the student loan mess are horrifying; the total student loan debt out is one trillion dollars, which is the entire US government budget in a year. Of that amount, $76 billion is in default, though Allan College of StudentLoanJustice.org put out a press release* doubting that figure because even defaulted loans have interest piled on top of them.


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MEASURE SIGNED BY PRESIDENT INCREASES COLLEGE ACCESS & AFFORDABILITY

  

Raises Pell Grants, eases loan repayments, & funds community colleges

Changes paid for by eliminating $68 billion in fees to banks

 

By Miriam Raftery

April 3, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – Most Americans don’t realize that the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act signed into law on March 30th by President Barack Obama affects more than the health care industry.  It also brings sweeping change to the federal student loan program. Obama termed this “one of the most significant investments in higher education since the G.I. Bill.”

Under the new law, the federal government will stop paying fees to private banks to act as middlemen on loans to students. The measure will save the U.S. government nearly $68 million over the next 11 years—money that will be invested in more Pell Grants made directly to students.  The new law will also make it easier for students to repay loans after graduating. In addition, $2 billion will be invested in community colleges for education and career training programs.


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FINANCIAL AID REQUESTS UP 31%, GROSSMONT COLLEGE REPORTS

 

 

A new report from Grossmont College says the number of Grossmont students applying to receive financial aid is increasing, along with the amount of dollars disbursed in tuition assistance.

 

Michael Copenhaver, Grossmont College director of financial aid, said the number of students completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is 31 percent higher for a12-month time period from January to December 2009, compared to the same 12-month period in 2008.


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COLLEGE STUDENTS FEEL PINCH: STUDENT LOAN APPLICATIONS UP 21% AT GROSSMONT

 

FAFSA, the federal government’s instrument for calculating need-based aid, is used by colleges and universities to determine financial aid eligibility for federal and state aid programs. Historically, a majority of the FAFSA applications received by the college are completed during the first half of the year, Copenhaver added.

 


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