Tony Bartels, DVM, MBA

What happened to the IDR application? Last Friday (2/21/2025), the Department of Education (ED) took down the electronic applications for all income-driven repayment (IDR) plans and consolidations. This week (2/25/2025), they also removed the paper/PDF applications for IDR plans.  ED cites a ruling from the 8th Federal Circuit Court of Appeals last week. The court

As one federal administration ends and another begins, let’s use this transition period to review where we stand with federal student loan repayment. Last week, the Department of Education (ED) began posting the forgiveness payment count data for borrowers using income-driven repayment (IDR) plans. Look for your “IDR End of Payment Term” data in your

On December 18, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced the reopening of the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) and Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) student loan repayment plans. These Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plans, which were temporarily closed due to the introduction of the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan, offer additional monthly payment options that

The long-awaited national election results are nearly all tallied, and we know one thing for sure: changes will be coming to student loan repayment. Changes were due to occur no matter the election outcome with the fate of at least one repayment plan and certain student loan forgiveness options tied up in the courts. With

Uncertainty sucks. It’s hard enough to make decisions about the future when we have some reasonable expectations of what may happen next. It’s nearly impossible when the path forward is cloudier than usual. With a recent court ruling blocking the new SAVE income-driven repayment plan and a frustrating response by the Department of Education (ED),

New high reached for federal Direct graduate school interest rates Each spring, we closely monitor the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield.  Student loan interest rates for the following academic year are adjusted based on where auction data for this note land in May.  For the 2024-25 academic year, the result is a continued trend of increasing