[Oasfaa] PLUS Loan Help for Repayment

Tue Oct 24 08:56:42 CDT 2023

[cid:image008.jpg at 01DA0658.015669A0]<http://osuit.edu/>
Matt Short
Director
Office of Financial Aid and Scholarhips
918.293.5222 * Okmulgee, OK * osuit.edu<http://osuit.edu/>
[signature_242094187]<https://www.facebook.com/OSUIT/>[signature_1978092788]<https://twitter.com/OSUIT>[signature_1872939146]<https://www.instagram.com/osuit/>[signature_1434041260]<https://www.linkedin.com/school/osuit>

   BE TRUE TO YOU AT OSUIT. WHERE GRADUATION MEANS YOU'RE HIRED.

NEVER SEND SENSITIVE INFORMATION SUCH AS SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS VIA EMAIL.  The most secure way to return documents to the financial aid office is through the secure upload link on the student's banner portal. Students can go to my.okstate.edu. Click on the "Self Service" icon, click on the "Financial Aid" tab. The secure upload is the first link.  For agencies without access to the secure upload, please fax to 918-293-4650.

Parent borrowers of PLUS CAN get into the SAVE repayment. This was on NPR this morning. You can click the link. I pasted the nuts and bolts into the body of the email below.

https://www.npr.org/2023/10/04/1200775288/student-loans-parent-plus-save-plan

How the double-consolidation loophole works

The federal student loan system - as well as this loophole - depend on layers, like the floors of a home. Consolidating a parent PLUS loan, for example, is like laying a rug over a hardwood floor. The Education Department and its loan servicers can see the rug - the newly consolidated loan - but they can also still see the hardwood - a parent PLUS loan - beneath.

But when you consolidate a loan twice, it's like laying wall-to-wall carpet over it all: Servicers can no longer tell what's beneath. And the system can prevent parent PLUS loans from qualifying for the SAVE plan only if it knows they're parent PLUS loans.

The Education Department knows this is a problem.

"In the past, limitations in Department data may have enabled a parent PLUS loan that was consolidated and then re-consolidated to enroll in any [income-driven repayment] plan, despite the Department's position that such loans are only eligible for the ICR plan," the department acknowledged in the Federal Register<https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/07/10/2023-13112/improving-income-driven-repayment-for-the-william-d-ford-federal-direct-loan-program-and-the-federal> in July. Still, it's not immediately closing the loophole.

So, how does a borrower fit through this narrow opening?

It is complicated, and, as we said earlier, the Education Department and its servicers won't help you with it. So if you choose to proceed, you're on your own. Sort of.

You'll find explainers here, from Student Loan Planner<https://www.studentloanplanner.com/parent-plus-double-consolidation/>, and here, from the College Investor<https://thecollegeinvestor.com/43530/student-loan-double-consolidation-loophole/>. Below, we've reprinted detailed instructions<https://www.mass.gov/info-details/repayment-options-for-parent-plus-loans> from Massachusetts' Office of the Attorney General, recommended for borrowers with at least two parent PLUS loans:

Step 1: Fill out a consolidation application online on studentaid.gov<https://studentaid.gov/> for just one Parent PLUS Loan. Pick Nelnet for the servicer. Download a copy of your application to help you with Step 2. It will contain account numbers, balance information, loan type codes, and servicer names needed for your next application.

Step 2: Fill out a paper consolidation application<https://studentaid.gov/sites/default/files/Consolidation-en-us.pdf> for the second Parent PLUS Loan.

-On page two of the application, identify the loans that you want to include in the consolidation. Fill in information about the Parent PLUS Loan that you excluded from the consolidation application you completed on studentaid.gov.

-On page three of the paper application, identify the loans you want to exclude from the consolidation. Fill in information about the Parent PLUS Loan that you included in the application you completed on studentaid.gov.

-Send the completed paper application to Aidvantage.

Step 3: After you have received notice from both Nelnet and Aidvantage that your two new Direct Consolidation Loans have been funded, fill out a final paper consolidation application.

-On page two, list both Direct Consolidation Loans to include them in the consolidation. You will not have any loans to exclude from this application. You can choose any servicer and send the application to that servicer.

-You can send the application to the servicer of your choice, but if you're pursuing PSLF, send it to MOHELA.

Step 4: After receiving notice that your final Direct Consolidation Loan is funded, visit studentaid.gov/idr<https://studentaid.gov/idr/>, log in using your FSA ID and password, and fill out an Income-Driven Repayment plan application, choosing the SAVE plan.
Sponsor Message

We know. It sounds complicated and tedious. Because it is. And to be clear, NPR is not advising parent PLUS borrowers to do this; we're simply making clear it's an option. At least, it's an option until July 2025, when the Education Department says it will officially close the loophole.

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*  *

[cid:image002.jpg at 01DA0654.220874D0]<http://osuit.edu/>
Matt Short
Director
Office of Financial Aid and Scholarhips
918.293.5222 * Okmulgee, OK * osuit.edu<http://osuit.edu/>
[signature_242094187]<https://www.facebook.com/OSUIT/>[signature_1978092788]<https://twitter.com/OSUIT>[signature_1872939146]<https://www.instagram.com/osuit/>[signature_1434041260]<https://www.linkedin.com/school/osuit>

   BE TRUE TO YOU AT OSUIT. WHERE GRADUATION MEANS YOU'RE HIRED.

NEVER SEND SENSITIVE INFORMATION SUCH AS SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS VIA EMAIL.  The most secure way to return documents to the financial aid office is through the secure upload link on the student's banner portal. Students can go to my.okstate.edu. Click on the "Self Service" icon, click on the "Financial Aid" tab. The secure upload is the first link.  For agencies without access to the secure upload, please fax to 918-293-4650.

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