Monday, April 07, 2025

Do you know anybody who has continued College longer than they had originally planned just to delay the onset of student loan payments?

 

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Do you know anybody who has continued College longer than they had originally planned just to delay the onset of student loan payments?

Rant/Complaint

Do you know what their exit plan is regarding finishing College and dealing with the loan somehow? Are they just going to keep taking classes indefinitely until an apocalypse like a nuclear war with Russia wipes out these loans?

Are they going to wait until a technological advancement enables them to make a better income? Doordash was the technological advancement that I needed in order to make the best income I have ever made, and make me able to stay well on top of my remaining student loans.

Or do they not assume that an apocalypse or the right technological advancement will happen, and will therefore continue to take classes until they die for any reason?

And then once their financial aid runs out, do they transfer to the cheapest Community College available whose classes they can take online, unless they live in the same town as the said community college, and can therefore take it in person, six credit hours at a time which is the minimum to continuing deferring student loans each semester, and pay for those six community college credit hours their own way for as long as their money lasts?

What have you known about these extended students? How long did they stay in college, what happened to them later and what are they up to nowadays?

 

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[–]DarkkHumor 11 points  

Hey! I can actually provide some insight since I'm what they call a 'lifelong learner'.

I'm currently enrolled in my doctorate in higher ed, and will graduate in August. I have been enrolled in undergrad -> doctorate straight thru from 2014 to 2025, so I've never paid a monthly towards my loans.

My loans are roughly 270k - 200k in federal, 70k in private. I currently work at University full-time making 80k a year, and the University is PSLF eligible.

My University allows all full time staff to get a bachelor's degree for 100% free as often as you'd like.

My plan come August is enroll in my university half time, and earn any bachelors degree that I would like for free. Doing that, i can start in-school deferment again and only gain interest with 0 monthly payments.

With that, I can save roughly 2000 a month and put that fully into my private loans. After about 3 years, my private loans will be gone, nd I can hop on IDR plan for 10 years of PSLF forgiveness.

All in, it would take 13 years, but id be debt free! That's the plan for now!

[–]Specific-Exciting 6 points  

If your employer now is pslf eligible why not get out of the in school deferment?

[–]DarkkHumor 2 points  

Great question! If I were to start pslf monthly payments come August, I am looking at roughly $480 a month with my income for 10 years. After 10 years, I will have paid roughly $58,000 out of my now $200,000 federal loans.

With my private loans, they are anywhere from 8% - 10% (split amongst 4 seperate loans), totally around $70,000. Their combined monthly is close to $800 a month for 8 - 12 years. At 12 years, i will have paid $96,000 out of my now $70,000 private loans.

With that math, it makes sense for me to hold off 3 - 4 years to save that additional $480 a month to tackle my private loans quicker. With this method, I'll have $23,000 over 4 years to put on the private loans that I wouldn't have had otherwise.

This works purely because I am PSLF eligible and can utilize the inschool deferment!

[–]104327 1 point  

Are you confident PSLF will be available in the future? Asking cause I’m curious myself

[–]DarkkHumor 1 point  

Unfortunately, the answer is who knows. Technically, it is coded into law, so it would take quite a bit to remove. That being said, there is no way to predict in this climate!

[–]SloppyJosephine_ 5 points  

You seem to have thought this through. Have you determined how much additional debt from "gaining interest" during that deferment period?

[–]DarkkHumor 1 point  

Thank you! I work in higher education so student loans are my day to day lol

Theoretically, i will have gained no tangible interest and here's why:

Since I am PSLF eligible, my interest gained will not matter at the current amount of loans that I have. With $200,000 in federal loans, at 8% average interest, i would need to pay roughly $2,300 a month for 10 years to fully pay off. Spoiler: that isn't doable.

With PSLF, whether I start tomorrow or in 3 years with my current salary, I will be roughly $480 a month on an IDR plan. Pay that for 10 years, you are looking at $58,000 in total and then the rest is forgiven.

The gaining interest is on my private loans, which have no form of IDR or forgiveness - which is why I will wait to pay the Federal Loans until the private are done!

[–]morbie5 2 points  

Project 2025 calls for the end of parent plus and grad plus loans fyi. I doubt that they will fully get rid of them but lifetime max limits are probably coming

[–]DarkkHumor 1 point  

Great point! Thankfully I will not need any future loans, as my education after August is free.

[–]buttons123456 1 point  

Yep someone told us this too. My state gives seniors tuition free undergrad classes at community college. You only have to be part time so I am keeping that in mind depending on when this mess is cleaned out. If Congress votes to close the Dept of Education, it is likely to stay with SBA which just had 43% of its personnel fired.

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