6 other ways SC student loan borrowers can seek relief if the Biden forgiveness plan falls through

Patrick McCreless
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Worried you’ll be stuck with thousands of dollars in debt because the federal student loan forgiveness program might be canceled?

You could have other options for debt relief.

The Biden administration announced on Tuesday it will extend the pause of federal student loan payments through June. The announcement comes after a recent federal appeals court ruling that imposed a nationwide injunction on the administration’s student loan forgiveness plan unveiled earlier this year.

The plan would cancel up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt.

While the administration plans to fight through the litigation hurdles, there’s no guarantee the debt forgiveness plan will proceed.

Currently, there are 42.8 million borrowers who owe about $1.6 trillion in federal student loans. Borrowers owe around $37,000 each on average.

But while the federal student loan forgiveness plan is in limbo, there are other options that some borrowers can take to get relief that they might not know about.

Here are six other ways to get student loan debt relief, according to South Carolina Student Loan, studentaid.gov and Experian, a multinational credit reporting and data analytics company.

Public Student Loan Forgiveness

Do you work full-time for a nonprofit or have a government job? Then you’re in luck and may qualify for student loan forgiveness. The real catch is you must have already made 120 qualifying payments or in other words, 10 years-worth of payments.

Learn more about PSLF and how to apply here.

Teacher loan forgiveness

If you have taught for five full academic years straight in certain elementary and secondary schools that serve low-income families, you could be eligible for up to $17,500 in student loan forgiveness. Get details here.

Refinance loans

You might be able to refinance your student loans and get lower payments, a lower interest rate or both. You must have good annual income and credit. Also, if you want to refinance, you must do so through private lenders.

Negotiate new federal loan repayment plan

Borrowers with federal loans have several options when it comes to repayment.

  • There is the Pay As You Earn plan, which reduces monthly payments by 10% of your discretionary income. It also will extend your payment term to 20 years.

  • The graduated payment plan starts small, but payments increase every two years over a decade.

  • Yet another option is the extended payment plan, for those who have more than $30,000 in outstanding direct loans. With this option, borrowers can pay back their loans over a 25-year fixed or graduated rate.

Military service

There are special benefits for student loans if you served in the military, such as interest rate caps and Department of Defense student loan repayment programs. For details, click here.

Repayment assistance

For those with federal loans who work in education, public defense, health care and the military, there are programs available from state and federal government agencies that offer repayment assistance.

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