Manage Your Student Loans Graduate Professional Students Sandi

Manage Your Student Loans Graduate & Professional Students Sandi Nowakowski, Loan Manager Office of Student Financial Aid 608 -262 -4987 sandi. nowakowski@finaid. wisc. edu Office of Student Financial Aid, Federal Direct & Private Loans Individual Repayment Counseling offered by appointment (phone or in-person) 608 -262 -4987, directloans@finaid. wisc. edu

Tackling Your Debt � Identify what you owe. � How do I repay? ◦ Consolidation ◦ Repayment Plans ◦ Forgiveness � What if I need help? ◦ Forbearance ◦ Deferment ◦ Discharge Office of Student Financial Aid, Federal Direct & Private Loans Individual Repayment Counseling offered by appointment (phone or in-person) 608 -262 -4987, directloans@finaid. wisc. edu

Identify Your Loan Debt � Federal Family Education Loan Program(FFELP) ◦ Stafford Subsidized Loan ◦ Stafford Unsubsidized Loan ◦ FFEL Consolidation Loan � Federal Direct Lending(DL) ◦ ◦ Direct Subsidized Loan Unsubsidized Loan Subsidized Consolidated Loan Unsubsidized Consolidation Loan � Federal Perkins Loan � Graduate PLUS Loan (FFELP or DL) Office of Student Financial Aid, Federal Direct & Private Loans Individual Repayment Counseling offered by appointment (phone or in-person) 608 -262 -4987, directloans@finaid. wisc. edu

Federal Family Education Loan Program FFELP � Chose a lender, payments go to servicer. ◦ No new loans originated after 2010. � Subsidized Stafford Loan ◦ Fixed interest ◦ Didn’t accrue interest while you were in school. ◦ Didn’t accrue interest during the grace period. � Unsubsidized Stafford Loan ◦ Fixed interest ◦ Accrued interest once the loan was disbursed. � FFEL Consolidated Loan ◦ Loans paid into one consolidation loan. ◦ All borrower benefits adjusted. ◦ Fixed interest based on consolidated weighted average. Office of Student Financial Aid, Federal Direct & Private Loans Individual Repayment Counseling offered by appointment (phone or in-person) 608 -262 -4987, directloans@finaid. wisc. edu

William D. Ford Federal Direct Loans (DL) � Department of Education is the lender, payments go to the servicer. � Federal Direct Subsidized Loan ◦ Fixed interest did not accrue while you were in school. � Interest started accruing during grace period for loans going into repayment from 7/1/12 through 6/30/14. � Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan ◦ � Fixed interest accrued once the loan was disbursed. Direct Consolidated Subsidized or Unsubsidized Loan ◦ Loans are paid into one consolidation loan. ◦ All borrower benefits are adjusted. ◦ Fixed Interest is the weighted average of the loans consolidated. ◦ Accrues interest while the student is in school. Avoid consolidating until done with school. Office of Student Financial Aid, Federal Direct & Private Loans Individual Repayment Counseling offered by appointment (phone or in-person) 608 -262 -4987, directloans@finaid. wisc. edu

Federal Perkins & Federal PLUS � Federal Perkins Loan ◦ Didn’t accrue interest while enrolled ½ time or higher. ◦ Lender is the school, payments go to the school. ◦ Can be consolidated with Sub and Unsub. ◦ Make payments at www. ECSI. net for UW-Madison Perkins loans � Graduate PLUS Loan (FFEL or DL) ◦ Could be FFEL (prior to 2010) or DL ◦ Payment goes to servicer. ◦ Payment begins 60 days after the student drops below half-time enrollment Office of Student Financial Aid, Federal Direct & Private Loans Individual Repayment Counseling offered by appointment (phone or in-person) 608 -262 -4987, directloans@finaid. wisc. edu

Evaluate Your Loans 1. Log onto www. nslds. ed. gov the National Student Loan Data System Office of Student Financial Aid, Federal Direct & Private Loans Individual Repayment Counseling offered by appointment (phone or in-person) 608 -262 -4987, directloans@finaid. wisc. edu

2. Identify your loan types. Principal 3. Identify the amount of each loan ◦ Principal ◦ Interest accrued Office of Student Financial Aid, Federal Direct & Private Loans Individual Repayment Counseling offered by appointment (phone or in-person) 608 -262 -4987, directloans@finaid. wisc. edu + Interest = Amount Owed

4. Identify who your servicers are and their websites. 5. Identify what your interest rates are. 6. Do you have private loans? Check your free credit report (Experian, Equifax, Trans. Union) www. annualcreditreport. com Office of Student Financial Aid, Federal Direct & Private Loans Individual Repayment Counseling offered by appointment (phone or in-person) 608 -262 -4987, directloans@finaid. wisc. edu

How do I repay? 1. 2. Determine each loan amount and when your grace periods end. ◦ Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans - 6 months ◦ Federal Perkins - 9 months ◦ Federal PLUS has no grace period Complete Exit Counseling at www. studentloans. gov (FFFEL & DL) and www. ecsi. net (Perkins ◦ 3. 4. Federal Perkins loan repayment can also be setup at www. ECSI. net Create an action plan & payment priority. ◦ How long will it take you to repay and what are your career/life goals? ◦ What is the most expensive loan you owe and how quickly can it be paid? ◦ Graduate School Plans? Be aware about the elimination of graduate professional subsidy. Setup your payment plan(s) and auto-debiting (0. 25% interest reduction). ◦ Repayment plan and Auto-debit can be setup on the servicer’s website or over the phone. Office of Student Financial Aid, Federal Direct & Private Loans Individual Repayment Counseling offered by appointment (phone or in-person) 608 -262 -4987, directloans@finaid. wisc. edu

Direct Loan Consolidation Should I consolidate? � ◦ Done attending school and grace periods have ended? ◦ Have a mixture of FFEL or DL loans and multiple servicers? ◦ Have loans in default? Complete consolidation at www. studentloans. gov � ◦ Application & MPN required ◦ Approximately 3 month processing time ◦ *Choose which loans you want to consolidate ◦ *All your federal loan debt is provided in the application for you ◦ Setup interim consolidation processing repayment plan or forbearance Consolidation Outcome � ◦ Weighted average determines interest rate of DL Consolidation loan ◦ Creates a new DL Subsidized and DL Unsubsidized Consolidation Loan(s) ◦ One servicer, access to DL borrower benefits Office of Student Financial Aid, Federal Direct & Private Loans Individual Repayment Counseling offered by appointment (phone or in-person) 608 -262 -4987, directloans@finaid. wisc. edu

Repayments Office of Student Financial Aid, Federal Direct & Private Loans Individual Repayment Counseling offered by appointment (phone or in-person) 608 -262 -4987, directloans@finaid. wisc. edu

Repayments Office of Student Financial Aid, Federal Direct & Private Loans Individual Repayment Counseling offered by appointment (phone or in-person) 608 -262 -4987, directloans@finaid. wisc. edu

Repayments Office of Student Financial Aid, Federal Direct & Private Loans Individual Repayment Counseling offered by appointment (phone or in-person) 608 -262 -4987, directloans@finaid. wisc. edu

Repayments Office of Student Financial Aid, Federal Direct & Private Loans Individual Repayment Counseling offered by appointment (phone or in-person) 608 -262 -4987, directloans@finaid. wisc. edu

Loan Forgiveness Public Service Forgiveness ◦ Work full-time for 10 years ◦ state, federal, or non-profit ◦ 120 monthly consecutive on-time payments ◦ IBR, ICR, Standard repayment plan Teacher Loan Forgiveness � ◦ Teach Full-time for 5 academic years ◦ Qualifying elementary and secondary schools ◦ Up to $17, 500 in principal and interest ◦ FFEL and/or DL loans. For more information on Loan Repayment go to www. finaid. wisc. edu/directloans. htm and click on “Student Loan Repayment” under the “Federal Direct Loan Servicers” heading. Office of Student Financial Aid, Federal Direct & Private Loans Individual Repayment Counseling offered by appointment (phone or in-person) 608 -262 -4987, directloans@finaid. wisc. edu

What if I need help? Environment of support ◦ Stay in contact with your servicer. ◦ Repayment plans are fluid. ◦ Contact our office if you need advice. Partial Financial Hardship Deferment ◦ Reduction in income ◦ Contact servicer ◦ Billing postponed ◦ Interest frozen on Sub and Perkins Forbearance ◦ Contact servicer ◦ Billing postponed ◦ Interest still accrues Office of Student Financial Aid, Federal Direct & Private Loans Individual Repayment Counseling offered by appointment (phone or in-person) 608 -262 -4987, directloans@finaid. wisc. edu

Questions? Sandi Nowakowski, Loan Manager Office of Student Financial Aid 608 -262 -9068 sandi. nowakowski@finaid. wisc. edu Office of Student Financial Aid, Federal Direct & Private Loans Individual Repayment Counseling offered by appointment (phone or in-person) 608 -262 -4987, directloans@finaid. wisc. edu