Anyone who didn’t go to their cheapest school?

[JaynaAli]

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Yeah, loan forgiveness is definitely a “plan for the worst, hope for the best” type thing from what I can tell. You need to plan and act now like you will be taxed. 20-25 years down the line, if there is no tax, then congratulations, you have a nice sum of money you’d earmarked for loans that has been growing over time and you can now save for retirement or spend on a home or whatever. But you don’t want to be in the position where you banked on it being tax free, the laws change, and you’re suddenly trying to catch back up, or worse, the day of forgiveness with taxes owed comes and you don’t have the ability to pay and now the IRS is angry.

 

[nicoleoey]

The only tax-free forgiveness is PSLF, you have to work for a qualifying employer to get PSLF. Any of the other IBR plans (PAYE, REPAYE, IBR or ICR) are not tax-free forgiveness.

It gets a bit confusing because if you qualify for PSLF, you're also on an income based repayment plan. All PSLF does is decrease your required payments to 10 years and remove the tax burden.

If you don't work for a 501 c 3 nonprofit, some government jobs or some academic jobs then you will not qualify for PSLF. You have to submit employment verification yearly to show you're hired by a qualified employer.

Okay that makes a lot more sense. I am planning on doing PSLF, but I find a lot of conflicting information since the places I'm looking at usually write information on IBR plans outside of the context of PSLF. Thank you for the clarification!

 

[DVMDream]

Okay that makes a lot more sense. I am planning on doing PSLF, but I find a lot of conflicting information since the places I'm looking at usually write information on IBR plans outside of the context of PSLF. Thank you for the clarification!

It looks like there was a law passed to include all IBR plans but that is only good until 2025, so who knows. I'd follow what Jayna said with there being so much change from a political aspect at all, who knows what will happen, best to be prepared

 

[JustPaws]

I'll chime in and say that students should also be aware of how much daycare costs too! Some students may be planning on starting families after graduation (or during as I did) and day care is very expensive. I'm in Michigan and daycare for 2 kids costs our household $2400/month... that doesn't even address mortgage, food, cars, etc.

 

[AwesomeOppossum]

I'll chime in and say that students should also be aware of how much daycare costs too! Some students may be planning on starting families after graduation (or during as I did) and day care is very expensive. I'm in Michigan and daycare for 2 kids costs our household $2400/month... that doesn't even address mortgage, food, cars, etc.

Not to be a downer but is it even possible to pay off loans with having kids, a mortgage, etc with average vet salaries? or is this only possible if one spouse makes a crazy amount of money? (I'm considering vet school but the loans scare me that I won't be able to afford the monthly payment along with other things I want in life)

 

[JaynaAli]

IBR plans didn’t start until 2009 so will any non-PSLF IBR people even have completed enough payments by 2025 to even qualify for this current tax free for anyone forgiveness? Maybe I’m missing something but this seems like a “perk” that doesn’t actually do anything or help anyone given the timeline it affects.

We don’t know if it’ll for sure be taxed in the future. If it is we don’t know what the tax rates will be then…they’re like 30 now and might be the same but could be 50% in twenty five years who knows. You just have to do the best you can to prep while reacting and changing your strategy as the rules and tax laws change over time.

 

[JustPaws]

Not to be a downer but is it even possible to pay off loans with having kids, a mortgage, etc with average vet salaries? or is this only possible if one spouse makes a crazy amount of money? (I'm considering vet school but the loans scare me that I won't be able to afford the monthly payment along with other things I want in life)

Depends on what area of country, what area of vet med you end up in. I am very hopeful to pay off my loans in 4ish years after school. We will continue living on my spouse's salary as we already are, and my entire salary will go to loans. It's currently a very good market for small animal exclusive vets.

 

[puppydogtor]

Nowadays, cost of attendance at UPenn is $95-105k per year and Tufts is ~90k per year…

Sorry I didn't read the whole thread, but where are you getting this number for Penn? Are you including housing/living expenses? I am still waiting to hear back from UPenn along with a few other schools and as of now am wanting to go to Midwestern but I was told it's very expensive compared to other schools, but its tuition is nowhere near 95k per year

 

[VETpro]

Sorry I didn't read the whole thread, but where are you getting this number for Penn? Are you including housing/living expenses? I am still waiting to hear back from UPenn along with a few other schools and as of now am wanting to go to Midwestern but I was told it's very expensive compared to other schools, but its tuition is nowhere near 95k per year

Cost of attendance includes living expenses

 

[britzen]

IBR plans didn’t start until 2009 so will any non-PSLF IBR people even have completed enough payments by 2025 to even qualify for this current tax free for anyone forgiveness? Maybe I’m missing something but this seems like a “perk” that doesn’t actually do anything or help anyone given the timeline it affects.

We don’t know if it’ll for sure be taxed in the future. If it is we don’t know what the tax rates will be then…they’re like 30 now and might be the same but could be 50% in twenty five years who knows. You just have to do the best you can to prep while reacting and changing your strategy as the rules and tax laws change over time.

Income contigent repayment (ICR) has been around since the mid-90's, so I assume they are the ones being targeted here. There was a news story last year that there are over 2 million people who have been paying in ICR plans for over 20 years that should be able to qualify for forgiveness. But only ~32~ of them have ever managed to get their loans forgiven.

I think in addition to the tax free stuff, part of what they are doing is retroactively giving people credit for months paid so that they can qualify for forgiveness. There were / are lots of administrative problems with the program that messed up people's forgiveness - loan companies' not recertifying them on time, putting them in the wrong type of repayment program, losing paperwork, processing delays, etc.

 

[battie]

Okay that makes a lot more sense. I am planning on doing PSLF, but I find a lot of conflicting information since the places I'm looking at usually write information on IBR plans outside of the context of PSLF. Thank you for the clarification!

Just plan on PSLF not working out. So far, the program has not been beneficial for most vets who thought they were able to use it.

Not to be a downer but is it even possible to pay off loans with having kids, a mortgage, etc with average vet salaries? or is this only possible if one spouse makes a crazy amount of money? (I'm considering vet school but the loans scare me that I won't be able to afford the monthly payment along with other things I want in life)

It will take me 16 years at ~1000/month to pay off my loans, which will be significantly less than originally planned. My household does not have the advantage of being able to live on one income as I make 3.5-4x what my husband makes. 1000 covers the interest across the five loans, and a little bit extra on top. Then Dave Ramsey it across the loans. Any production I make will be used for loans.

I cover essentially all the bills with the exception of his phone, the internet, and most food. My income is completely tapped out with the addition of student loans this month. We'll be relying strongly on family after our baby is born and we go back to work.

 

[nicoleoey]

Just plan on PSLF not working out. So far, the program has not been beneficial for most vets who thought they were able to use it.

It will take me 16 years at ~1000/month to pay off my loans, which will be significantly less than originally planned. My household does not have the advantage of being able to live on one income as I make 3.5-4x what my husband makes. 1000 covers the interest across the five loans, and a little bit extra on top. Then Dave Ramsey it across the loans. Any production I make will be used for loans.

I cover essentially all the bills with the exception of his phone, the internet, and most food. My income is completely tapped out with the addition of student loans this month. We'll be relying strongly on family after our baby is born and we go back to work.

Can you clarify a bit on the PSLF bit? Is it with more specific details on just how income vs living expenses may pan out with the payments?

 

[DVMDream]

Can you clarify a bit on the PSLF bit? Is it with more specific details on just how income vs living expenses may pan out with the payments?

I think she's referring to people thinking they had made the 120 qualifying payments while working a job that qualifies for PSLF. This is most commonly working for a 501c3 organization.

However they were denied forgiveness. PSLF is insanely specific. You have to make sure you have all the proper loans, only certain ones qualify. You have to certify your employment yearly (or ideally you should), etc. There's a lot of specifics that I think some people didn't know/realize and thus were denied because they didn't actually qualify.

 

[nicoleoey]

I think she's referring to people thinking they had made the 120 qualifying payments while working a job that qualifies for PSLF. This is most commonly working for a 501c3 organization.

However they were denied forgiveness. PSLF is insanely specific. You have to make sure you have all the proper loans, only certain ones qualify. You have to certify your employment yearly (or ideally you should), etc. There's a lot of specifics that I think some people didn't know/realize and thus were denied because they didn't actually qualify.

Oh okay, I'm guessing this is something I have to call my loan servicer about? I've looked into it a lot, but it wouldn't hurt to make a few more phone calls to make sure before the April deadline.

 

[BlackCatsRuleTheWorld]

Oh okay, I'm guessing this is something I have to call my loan servicer about? I've looked into it a lot, but it wouldn't hurt to make a few more phone calls to make sure before the April deadline.

I am in PSLF for my undergrad loans and can comment on this. DVMDream hit on a lot of the details. Currently you need to have your loans through fedloan servicing, be part of an IBR plan, get your employment certified annually. You cannot consolidate any of your loans. All of your loans must be under the same IBR plan. Each year you can get a summary of how many qualifying payments you have made toward each loan.

Since the first big failure of the PSLF system it's been easier to figure out how to gain PSLF but it's still a lot to keep track of, and there is a lot of $$$ at stake if you don't get it. Though it is harder than it should be to get in touch with fedloan servicing about the program.

 

[nicoleoey]

I am in PSLF for my undergrad loans and can comment on this. DVMDream hit on a lot of the details. Currently you need to have your loans through fedloan servicing, be part of an IBR plan, get your employment certified annually. You cannot consolidate any of your loans. All of your loans must be under the same IBR plan. Each year you can get a summary of how many qualifying payments you have made toward each loan.

Since the first big failure of the PSLF system it's been easier to figure out how to gain PSLF but it's still a lot to keep track of, and there is a lot of $$$ at stake if you don't get it. Though it is harder than it should be to get in touch with fedloan servicing about the program.

Thanks so much for lining it out. I do have FedLoan Servicing atm, but they're very hard to get a hold of on the phone. I only have those direct subsidized and unsubsidized loans from undergrad and only plan to take out the Stafford loans for vet school. I figure I should give them a call later today or tomorrow to confirm but so far it seems like I'm in the clear?

I do remember my loans USED to be serviced under Cornerstone before being moved to Fedloan, so I'm wondering what the dynamics behind getting my loan servicer switched is, whether that's something I should be worried about in the future and if it's something I can request?

 

[BlackCatsRuleTheWorld]

Thanks so much for lining it out. I do have FedLoan Servicing atm, but they're very hard to get a hold of on the phone. I only have those direct subsidized and unsubsidized loans from undergrad and only plan to take out the Stafford loans for vet school. I figure I should give them a call later today or tomorrow to confirm but so far it seems like I'm in the clear?

I do remember my loans USED to be serviced under Cornerstone before being moved to Fedloan, so I'm wondering what the dynamics behind getting my loan servicer switched is, whether that's something I should be worried about in the future and if it's something I can request?

IIRC you apply for an IBR plan that falls under PSLF and then your loans are switched to Fedloan. I'd also recommend researching PSLF online, there are a lot of good articles that show common mistakes that disqualify you, and tips from those who have actually received it.

 

[DVMDream]

Thanks so much for lining it out. I do have FedLoan Servicing atm, but they're very hard to get a hold of on the phone. I only have those direct subsidized and unsubsidized loans from undergrad and only plan to take out the Stafford loans for vet school. I figure I should give them a call later today or tomorrow to confirm but so far it seems like I'm in the clear?

I do remember my loans USED to be serviced under Cornerstone before being moved to Fedloan, so I'm wondering what the dynamics behind getting my loan servicer switched is, whether that's something I should be worried about in the future and if it's something I can request?

Fedloan servicing isn't going to be servicing loans soon anymore. If you qualify for PSLF, they'll transfer your loans to whoever takes over the program once you submit things.

Can still verify the loans you plan to take out will qualify for PSLF but I wouldn't worry too much about who your loans are with currently.

 

[nicoleoey]

Fedloan servicing isn't going to be servicing loans soon anymore. If you qualify for PSLF, they'll transfer your loans to whoever takes over the program once you submit things.

Can still verify the loans you plan to take out will qualify for PSLF but I wouldn't worry too much about who your loans are with currently.

That all makes sense. Appreciate all of the patience and insight on this process!

Is it moreso on the applying end or certain actions taken on loans that are more common that disqualify borrowers?

 

[futuredogtor26]

I’ve only been accepted into one school (Penn, which is an absolute dream) but the total cost of living + tuition is about $95-100k a year. My in-state school is about half of that but also isn’t a school I really love. I am so torn between reapplying or just going and knowing it will figure itself out. I’m also terrified with the way the number of applicants are increasing that next year I wouldn’t even be admitted anywhere if nothing stellar comes of a gap year.

 

[AwesomeOppossum]

I’ve only been accepted into one school (Penn, which is an absolute dream) but the total cost of living + tuition is about $95-100k a year. My in-state school is about half of that but also isn’t a school I really love. I am so torn between reapplying or just going and knowing it will figure itself out. I’m also terrified with the way the number of applicants are increasing that next year I wouldn’t even be admitted anywhere if nothing stellar comes of a gap year.

I would really consider what field you want to go into (private practice or research etc) and what the average salary is. Can you afford 400k in debt and still have the life you want? Finances are a big factor into my decision and I’d personally reapply

 

[battie]

I am so torn between reapplying or just going and knowing it will figure itself out.

This is my least favorite perception of student debt. For a lot of people, it does work out. But it worked out because those people *made sure* it would. I see way too many pre-vets think that they can blindly trust the future when that's not the case.

I’m also terrified with the way the number of applicants are increasing that next year I wouldn’t even be admitted anywhere if nothing stellar comes of a gap year.

For your situation, I say go to Penn because you don't know if you'll be accepted next year. It really comes down to the decision of if you're willing to take the risk of never being accepted again. With that being said, the estimated COA per school has a wide range on how good of an estimate that is. Illinois had a COA of 75 or 80k when I was a student. With roommates, living off of 10-12k over tuition was definitely doable. Therefore I never took out 75k for a full year. So do the same. Make a budget and live as frugally as possible. After graduation, make good choices for your repayment plan and realize that you would likely be a student that pays the bare minimum per month and saves for the tax bomb at the end of the loans