https://www.reddit.com/r/debtfree/s/eThzMf36pQ

Finally debt-free today. 🎉

Made my very last payment of $8,647.60, and Dobby is officially FREE.

I borrowed nearly $220K from Prodigy Finance on a variable-rate loan, and at one point, the interest rate climbed to a whopping 11%. I paid a total of $70k in interest alone. Yes just interest.

Paid off every single dollar with my corporate salary. No windfall, no shortcuts. Just years of hard work, discipline, and showing up.

And now, I’m finally DONE.

Mic drop. 🎤

I’m very confused and tired. I thought everything was taken care of. On September 25th they sent a notice saying my new payment plan was accepted. Today I got a new notice saying I have 30 more days to pick a plan because I “didn’t take action” before, even though I obviously did. I just checked my loans and some are in the in school status because I am currently in school, whereas others actually still say saving on a valuable education on them despite me switching off that already and being approved before. What is going on? Has this happened to anyone else?

I’m curious if anyone who is past their 90 day deadline to switch from SAVE has actually been placed into standard repayment plan yet, or are you guys all getting 30 days additional notice at this point?

My 90 day deadline is approaching, and the plan is to wait for 30 day notice, but I’m a little worried, and am curious about other people’s experience.

I thought it waived all interest that your payment didn’t cover. So why do I owe $100 more this month than last month? It’s in unpaid interest. I checked the statement.

I checked all my statements while under RAP. It’s grown by about $100 each month, with nothing being waived.

Update: went to enroll in auto-pay and when scheduling the payment for next month, it said I had already made a payment for that due date, which was odd. Makes me wonder if the payment I made for this month was somehow considered my 11/10 payment somehow.

If you're like me you got your IBR acceptance notice and were confused on when your first payment was due. The letter reads like this:

Thank you for your recent request for an Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Plan. We are pleased to inform you that your request has been approved and applied to your Edfinancial Services account. For the 12-month period beginning on 10/28/26, your monthly payment amount will be XXXX for the qualifying loans.

My account shows $0 due on 10/28/26, but I didn't want to get past due so I used the chat to ask when my first payment was due. I also explained to them that 10/28 was not 21 days past notice as I had thought we were supposed to get.

The person that I chatted with explained my first payment was 11/28/26 and then gave me the way to find that on my account. I followed the instructions and found it in writing so I can feel confident I won't be late on my payment and indeed have the 21+ days notice.

Here are the instructions I was given:
You can see your next due date on the printable account information page online at edfinancial.studentaid.gov/myaccount. Once you access the portal you will want to select the word "More" in the Menu, where a drop-down menu will appear. Next, you will select the option "Tools and Requests" where it will proceed to take you to the "Printable Account Information." Once you click this wording, it will populate your loan detail information showcasing the repayment plan among other details for your loans. 

Hope this helps someone! This whole process has been filled with confusion.

I need help ASAP. NOW. I don’t know what to do. I know nothing much about loans or how to navigate them.

I have a past due amount of 5468.19 that I need to pay. I did not graduate yet but I withdrew in February.

I wanted to go back but this amount stopped me because I didn’t know what to do for paying school. I regret it and even going because I don’t think I was prepared for anything.

What type of loan should I get? I don’t make that much either. I’m totally lost. Do I get loans like the title? I just need a loan or something basically immediately.

is anyone else coming absolutely cannot finish filling out the form? I can fill it out and I make it to the part where they want me to choose my plan and when I go to continue it just spins and spins and spins, I’ve tried it on my MacBook and then on two different browsers on my iPhone and nothing works. I’ve waited as long as possible, and my cutoff date is technically November 11 so I need to figure out some type of solution over the next few weeks.

That is the whole reason they made me resign in the first place. I am so confused. I just filled out another IDR application which says my payment will only be $80 a month if I print my application pdf and physically mail it in with my most recent tax return and other income info to Aidvantage. And there is no pdf to print.

If I don’t mail it in, I get on the tiered plan which is almost $300 a month. This seems insane and I don’t understand how they are allowed to keep changing and invalidating contracts.

I am a 4th year dental student who will be graduating with around $290k debt. I am currently stuck between choosing to practice at a private practice or applying for the NHSC Student to service .

The S2S program says that it will give 120k tax free towards student loans over 3 years ( 30k a year starting your last year of school) in exchange for working at an FQHC for those 3 years.

Working there I’ll probably average between $160k-$180k a year. Working in private practice my first year salary will probably be similar but I have a chance at higher income after that. And I’ll have an opportunity to do cosmetic dentistry, implants, etc which FQHCs will never attempt.

Paying off my debt is of high priority to me but I wanna know if this program is worth it and won’t be hampering my future in terms of experience.

Oddly enough, I made out ok with with my job after graduate school. However when looking at plans to switch it will not let me pick the 10 year plan? Anyone else experience this?

I'm genuinely curious since I'm nearing the deadline. I could use another month to get my finances in order. I'm so disappointed and exhausted from this whole debacle. Should I wait it out for a possible extension? What was your experience? Thanks!

I need advice on whether I should switch to RAP plan. I was onn SAVE and switched to old IBR. Payments are about 410 a month. My payment is not covering enough to lower my balance. I’m around year 14 of making payments. I have roughly 10.5 years to go until forgiveness on IBR . I want to switch to RAP for the lower payments and the interest subsidy so my balance won’t grow anymore. Is there anyone else in my situation. I’m not a new borrower and I’m not a super old borrower, I feel like I’m in between haha. Oh and balance is around 101k

​

MY LOANS ARE BEING DISCHARGED THROUGH TPD!!!!

I applied for TPD March 27th of this year 2026. My application has been "received for review" 7 times. Every few months I would reach out to check on the status and was always told there were delays and they couldn't give me an estimate.

I decided to reach out again today, and I was told that my application had been approved!!! 😭😭😭 They told me it just has to go through the last part which is my loan servicer clearing my payments. They said that will probably take another 1 to 2 months. I had read a lot online that it was taking people 9 to 12 months to be fully approved and it looks like it will take about that long.

For reference, I have hEDS, POTS, and MCAS. I honestly don't know what my doctor wrote on my paperwork to apply because she submitted it for me. I was so stressed because with how much the loan payments have increased I was getting so sick having to work as much as I had to to keep up with my payments.

Basically posting this to say, don't give up. It may take awhile but they are still processing and awarding discharge for disability. I was a nervous wreck these past 7 months, but am so grateful.

I left college in 2014 with about $44000 worth of loans--$30000 federal, $14000 from the school itself. Joined Peace Corps in 2015, and after 2 years, I got about $3000 cancelled from my Federal Perkins Loans through the school.

Interest had accrued quite a bit by the time I left Peace Corps in 2017, and I'd been on $0 payments through plans like PAYE and SAVE, and applying for Forbearance here and there.

After Peace Corps, I continued to work in the country that I served in and steadily chipped away at the higher interest loans (7% from the school, 6.8% for some of the later federal loans). The housing provided by my employer here meant that I didn't have to pay rent, so all of my salary could be divided into just savings and food/entertainment. Once I had just lower interest loans (3.4-3.8%) left, I began building up my emergency fund and just making smaller payments of ~$500/month.

This month, I had a balance of $5500 left and since I had been saving up money to buy an apartment in this country, I decided to just cut the debt out of the equation and finish it off.

In total, with an initially balance of $44000, I think I ended up paying about $20000 in interest over these 12 years.

It's such a big relief because while I was in Peace Corps, I had many sleepless nights where I wondered how I would ever get such a huge amount of money paid off. I know that I was rather fortunate to not have to take out a huge amount in comparison to some of the posts I've seen here, but this is still a massive accomplishment for me. Good luck to everyone else--you can do it!

I just made my last student loan payment! 25k paid off after graduating December 2024. I was fortunate enough to live at home and hammer it out, and it feels great. That’s all 😁

I was approved for IBR on 10/5/2026, and officially out of SAVE.

I received 5 letters from MOHELA about it on 10/5 and 10/6:

1. "Important Account Information" - states "Your monthly payment amount of $157.08 will be automatically withdrawn from the bank account on file beginning on 12/02/26.
2. "Your Student Loan Repayment Plan Information" - states "Your new Monthly Payment Amount is $157.08 and will begin on 11/02/26."
3. "Your Repayment Plan Request is Approved" - states "First Scheduled Due Date: 12/02/26"
4. "We’ve scheduled your next Auto Pay payment" - states "Next Auto Pay $157.08 on 11/02/26"
5. "Auto Pay - Account Change" - states "Total Payment to be Withdrawn* $157.08. Payment Withdrawal Date: 11/02/26

My actual mohela account, in the portal, says my next due date is 11/02/2026, and "amount due" is $0.00

I called Mohela about this discrepancy, and they kind of ignored me, looked at my account, and said my auto pay would start 12/02/2026 and withdraw 157.08 from my bank account. I pressed them a little more, and then they suddenly seemed surprised, and said they needed to look into it.

After several brief holds, she concluded that I would need to make a payment on 11/01/2026 manually, and then after that, auto pay would work as it should starting on 12/02/2026. I don't know what would have happened if I didn't make this call and ask about the discrepancy.... would I have just been dinged for a late payment? since my billing statement says $157.08 due on 11/2, but my portal says $0.00 due on 11/2? It just wasn't going to pull the money from my bank account, and then I'd be marked late????

Um... if anyone else has a situation like mine, and they don't do the first month manually, they may be in trouble.

If I want to consolidate my Direct Federal Loans before my 90 day deadline so I can choose RAP, when should I start the process? My deadline to choose a new payment plan is 11/11/26.

My original notice to swap was for 1/6/2027, but I just got an email saying I have less than 60 days to choose a new payment plan. Logged in and saw they changed it to 12/6/2026?? Has anyone else had this happen?? I hate how confusing this whole thing has been, dates keep changing, no one seems to know what’s going on. How am I supposed to know when I actually need to swap if I’m being told two different dates??

For anyone that has already switched: is your monthly payment amount close to the amount that was listed on the Repayment Calculator?
I am scared that I’ll apply for one plan and then they’ll approve it with a monthly amount that is much higher.
I just don’t trust this entire process.

Worth noting that I used my tax info for the Repayment Calculator and not a pay stub. I will use my tax info when I apply as well.

Hi everyone! I’m hoping someone here has experienced something similar because I’m honestly getting pretty anxious about potentially losing thousands of dollars in interest subsidies.

I was previously enrolled in SAVE and placed in forbearance, with a required monthly payment of $0. However, because interest was accumulating on my loans, I was voluntarily paying approximately $650 every month to prevent my balance from growing.
In July 2026, I applied to switch to the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP). My understanding was that RAP would subsidize the unpaid monthly interest as long as I made my required payments, which would allow me to finally stop spending $650 every month just to keep my loan balance from increasing.
While my RAP application was still pending, I made another voluntary payment of approximately $650 because I wasn’t sure when the new plan would take effect. About a week later, my RAP application was approved, and my new monthly payment became $10.

However, something seems wrong:
My statements show a regular monthly payment of $10, but my current amount due is $0.
My next payment isn’t due until August 2027.
My unpaid interest increased from $3,053 in August to $4,284 in October, an increase of over $1,200.
My principal hasn’t changed, and the interest continues to accumulate at approximately $620 per month.

When I tried to make a $10 payment, Edfinancial displayed a warning stating that RAP borrowers who make payments covering future due dates may not receive their interest subsidy or principal matching benefits.

Now I’m worried that the voluntary $650 payment I made while waiting for RAP approval somehow put me into paid-ahead status, preventing me from receiving the interest subsidy.

The whole reason I switched to RAP was to stop having to pay hundreds of dollars in interest every month. I was hoping to save that money instead, so the possibility of losing these benefits is really frustrating.

I’ve already emailed Edfinancial requesting an account review, clarification of my RAP effective date, restoration of regular monthly billing, and retroactive application of any missed subsidies.

Has anyone experienced something similar after switching from SAVE to RAP?

Were you able to remove paid-ahead status? Did Edfinancial restore your interest subsidies retroactively? Is there anything else I should do while waiting for their response?

I’m especially concerned because I made that $650 payment before my RAP application was approved, not intending to prepay future RAP payments.
I’d really appreciate any advice. Thank you!

I received my 90 day notice in July. Today was the 90 day notice. It’s been radio silence from EdFinancial since. I was using calculators on FASFA to determine best plan to switch to when that day finally comes. FASFA cannot find my husbands SSN (he was naturalized this past year) so I couldn’t even get past the first page of the calculator.

We also had a major life change, I switched to a part a per diem relief role to be the primary care giver for our children. He has an opportunity to make significantly more money if he does a training program for the next few years. It didn’t make fiscal sense for me to full time as most of my salary would go towards childcare.

Our tentative plan is to file taxes separately at the start of the year hoping the forbearance timeline keeps getting dragged out. Any other ideas/suggestions to help drag it out until the end of 2026? I know everyone feels this is all guesswork but open to suggestions

Trying to change my repayment plan but the website gets stuck loading once I select my plan. I hit “continue” and nothing happens. The blue box becomes grey and the loading circle just keeps spinning

Does income gained from stocks count as taxable income ?

I already submitted my RAP application end of September and the letter from my inbox (received today) stated the following 'Your proof of income didn't state what portion of the income was taxable.'

I asked Aidvantage today and they informed me that stock gains are not in the list of taxable income ? And that because I lost my job, I need to put 'No, I don't have taxable income'

Just wanted to see if this response from them is accurate.

I just received a letter from Mohela stating my student loans were placed on an in-school forbearance. I am back in school part-time but planning to continue making payments as I am pursuing PSLF and at 59/120.

Looks like I have to now call Mohela and tell them to remove the deferment. How did this happen without my consent? If this happened to you, please share your story! Looking for advice…

If someone offered you the money to pay off $250,000 in federal student loans would you pay the whole thing off immediately? Or would you put it in an account to grow interest and set up RAP/IBR payments to auto-pay from that account? Assumimg your forgiveness payments would start with the first payment from this account.