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Federal Health Professions Student Loans for Veterinary School

Leave a Comment / Consolidation, Veterinary Questions & Answers, Veterinary Resources, Veterinary School, Veterinary Student Debt, Veterinary Student Loans, Veterinary Students / By Tony Bartels, DVM, MBA

A number of U.S. veterinary schools provide access to the Health Professions Student Loan (HPSL), a federal loan program with favorable terms for students pursuing careers in healthcare, including veterinary medicine. Oftentimes, veterinary students are not aware of the availability of HSPL. While an exhaustive official list of all participating veterinary schools is not currently […]

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Federal Student Loan Repayment: 2025 Year-End Wrap and Preparing for 2026

It’s been a confusing year in student loan repayment, to say the least. We continue to see changes even as we approach the end of 2025. We have two ongoing points of frustration and one suggestion to round out 2025. IBR application issues: Partial Financial Hardship update SAVE may be ending sooner rather than later.

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VIN Foundation | Supporting veterinarians to cultivate a healthy animal community | Blog | Apply Smarter Q&A: Veterinary School Veterinary Income

Apply Smarter Q&A: Veterinary Income

Leave a Comment / Apply Smarter, Veterinary Pre-Vets, Veterinary Questions & Answers, Veterinary Resources, Veterinary School, Veterinary Student Debt, Webinars / By Tony Bartels, DVM, MBA

Here are some questions and detailed answers about Veterinary Income asked during the Apply Smarter webinars. We also covered questions and answers about veterinary school application and veterinary student loans. “I’ve heard that it is very tough to have a job while attending vet school? Is it because the program is intense?” Yes, the curriculum

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Veterinary School: Private Student Loans vs. Federal Student Loans

Leave a Comment / Apply Smarter, Veterinary School, Veterinary Student Debt, Veterinary Student Loans, Veterinary Students / By Tony Bartels, DVM, MBA

Apply Smarter & Borrow Better: What you need to know about paying for veterinary school after July 1, 2026 Private Loans will be a critical component Students starting veterinary school (or any professional program) after July 1, 2026, will be the first to experience new federal student loan borrowing constraints. Veterinary school is expensive, often

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IDR Forgiveness Payment Count Data Available

Leave a Comment / Veterinary School, Veterinary Student Debt, Veterinary Student Loans, Veterinary Students / By Tony Bartels, DVM, MBA

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

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VIN Foundation | Supporting veterinarians to cultivate a healthy animal community | Blog | Veterinary School Student Loan Interest Rates for 2025-26 Academic Year Decreasing

Student Loan Interest Rates: Slightly Lower for 2025-2026 Academic Year

Leave a Comment / Veterinary School, Veterinary Student Debt, Veterinary Student Loans, Veterinary Students / By Tony Bartels, DVM, MBA

Federal Direct Loan interest rates for graduate school break their upward trend Federal student loan interest rates have a fixed rate for the life of the loan. That fixed interest rate depends on when you receive the loans. Each spring, we closely monitor the federal treasury yields. With all of the economic uncertainty this year,

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2025 Student Loan Consolidaiton Conundrum

The Student Loan Consolidation Conundrum for 2025 New Graduates

Leave a Comment / Consolidation, Veterinary School, Veterinary Student Debt, Veterinary Student Loans, Veterinary Students / By Tony Bartels, DVM, MBA

It’s been a head-spinning start to 2025. Federal student loan repayment has not been spared any uncertainty. For the 2025 graduating class, getting started in student loan repayment is more complicated than ever. Much of the student loan uncertainty centers around the available repayment options, application processing, and forgiveness for income-driven repayment (IDR) plans. Even

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Application for Federal Income-Driven Repayment Plans Reactivated

3 Comments / Veterinary School, Veterinary Student Debt, Veterinary Student Loans, Veterinary Students / By Tony Bartels, DVM, MBA

What IDR options are available in this latest update? After a February ruling from the 8th Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, the Department of Education removed all Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plan applications. Federal student loan servicers also paused processing of previously submitted applications. The temporary pause prevented all federal borrowers from applying for any IDR

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All IDR applications for student loans are paused – Now what?

43 Comments / Veterinary School, Veterinary Student Debt, Veterinary Student Loans, Veterinary Students / By 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

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Estimate Your Minimum Monthly Student Loan Payment

2 Comments / Veterinary Resources, Veterinary School, Veterinary Student Debt, Veterinary Student Loans, Veterinary Students / By Tony Bartels, DVM, MBA

The recently updated 2018 Health and Human Services (HHS) poverty guidelines determine your minimum monthly student loan payment. Poverty guidelines are used for many different U.S. government programs. One of the most important uses for veterinarians is the Discretionary Income calculation used to generate the minimum monthly student loan payment of federal income-driven repayment plans (IBR, PAYE, REPAYE). Income-driven student loan

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