Student Loan Changes Miss The Mark For Millions With Covid Cash Woes
I am recovering from Covid, owe $130,000 in school loans and don’t qualify for the federal loan forgiveness program
The first story on the new loan forgiveness program that popped in my newsfeed was one from CNBC: Department of Education announces Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program Changes by Abigail Johnson Hess.
The crazy part is, I was just talking about this. On September 27, 2021, I (probably like millions of others) received an email from the U.S. Department of Education informing me that:
“During the COVID-19 emergency, we paused your federal student loan payments. Also, we set the interest rate on your loans to 0%.
The payment pause and 0% interest period were extended one last time. Your payments will restart after Jan. 31, 2022.
We’ll reach out to you every month to help you prepare for payments to begin again.”
After being diagnosed with COVID and discharged from the hospital, I was looking for any good news. I missed almost three weeks’ work, and I’m a writer and consultant without paid time off.
I got a little excited because I’ve served my community as an educator for over 20 years. Yet, as of October 2021, I still owe $130,000 in…
