Help Spread the Word About Income-Based Repayment with New Outreach Tools
Income-Based Repayment is almost here! The new student loan repayment program that can make payments more affordable for hundreds of thousands of people will become available for the first time on July 1. Our friends over at www.IBRinfo.org have just launched a funny new video introducing IBR. "Ditch Your Debt Gremlin" is a two-minute animated introduction to IBR that NASFAA members can use this video to help publicize this important new option for students. Post it to your Facebook page, email it to everyone you know, link to it from your blog, etc., to help get the word out about Income-Based Repayment.
(To grab the code for this video, right click on the video and then select Copy Embed HTML).
NASFAA is partnering with IBRInfo to get the word to students about new loan options. The site also has answers to frequently asked questions, and a calculator to estimate eligibility and monthly payments. Applications for IBR will be available from lenders on July 1. Income-Based Repayment caps monthly loan payments based on income and family size, and forgives any debt and interest remaining after 25 years of payments. For example, a single person earning $30,000 a year with $30,000 in debt could cut her or his standard monthly payment amount in half with IBR. All federal loans made to students are eligible for this program, regardless of when they were taken out, from which lender, whether for graduate or undergraduate study.
Following is a short write-up that you can include in an email, newsletter, Facebook message, blog post, web site, or other communication. Feel free to edit as necessary:
On July 1, a major new student loan repayment option will become available for the first time. Income-Based Repayment (IBR) caps monthly federal loan payments at an affordable level based on your income and family size, and forgives any debt and interest that remains after 25 years. If you owe more on your federal student loans than you earn in a year, you can probably benefit from IBR. The lower your income, the lower your monthly payment will be: in some cases, as low as $0. IBR is available for almost all federal loans - past, present, or future - made by any lender, whether for college or graduate school.
If you work in a government, nonprofit, or other public service job, you could have your remaining student loan debt forgiven after just 10 years of Income-Based Repayment, or certain other payments. Your loans have to be in the federal Direct Loan Program to qualify, but the 10 years don't have to be consecutive. You just need to make a total of 120 payments while working full-time for a public or nonprofit employer, starting on or after October 1, 2007.
For more information, including a simple calculator to estimate monthly payments, please visit www.IBRinfo.org.
Posted 06/12/09 to www.NASFAA.org. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited. Please submit Web site questions or comments to Web@NASFAA.org.
