‘We were hoping that it would get forgiven;’ Students look for support as loan payments resume

DAYTON — Federal student loan payments will resume on Oct. 1.

Student loan borrowers are trying to figure out how they will pay them back. More than 43 million Americans have student loan debt.

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“Originally with all of the like, Biden plans, we were hoping that it would get forgiven. So we’re kind of all waiting on that,” University of Dayton Senior, Baylee Medvetz said. “It’s definitely always in the back of my mind.”

News Center 7′s Xavier Hershovitz spoke with Andrew Zeigler, a debt attorney and managing partner of Kennel Zeigler.

“you have until the end of the year to consolidate all of your loans with the Department of Education, to take advantage of some of the new payment plans that are coming along,” Zeigler said.

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One of the new payment plans is called Saving on A Valuable Education (S.A.V.E.). It lowers monthly payments based on your income and eliminates 100 percent of the remaining interest after a scheduled payment is made.

“A lot of people are gonna be surprised. it’s going to be a lot lower than what they think it’s going to be,” Zeigler said.

There is also a plan, the on-ramp to repayment, that will help people get back into the routine of paying their student loans. For the next year, borrowers will not be reported to credit bureaus for a late or missed payment and loans are not considered in default or sent to collections. Payments are still due and interest will accrue.

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“They’re giving you a little bit of time just to adjust your budget,” Zeigler said.

People are able to sign up for the S.A.V.E. program by visiting this website.

“I guess that’s something I’ll think about closer to like graduation and stuff,” Medvetz said.

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