This is my first reddit post ever, and what a boring topic!
I am student loan illiterate. The forms, the websites, the constantly changing policies and plans — it all makes my brain pinwheel. I'm desperately fearful that, in the past ~20 years that I've had these stupid loans, I've made some kind of gruesome mistake that screwed me up. And I'm morbidly curious to learn what that screw-up might have been.
All the gory details (this will be a long read, I apologize)
- Went to medical school in the late '00s, dropped out after 2.5 years
- Began repaying my loans in ~2011, always via one IBR plan or another, only making minimum payments
- In 2023, I lost my job and went on unemployment. Hired a sketchy for-profit student loan advisor to help me lower my monthly payment while I was burning through savings and job hunting.
- Sketchy Advisor advised me to consolidate my 8 loans (a mix of Direct Subsidized, Direct Unsubsidized, Stafford Sub, Stafford Unsub, Grad Plus, and Direct Grad Plus; oldest loan dated 7/2008; interest between 6.8% and 8.5%) into one Consolidated Unsubsudized (~$190,000, 6.625%) and one Consolidated Subsidized (~$18,000, 6.625%) and enroll in SAVE for $0 payment while receiving unemployment.
- In early 2024, again on the advice of Sketchy Advisor, I enrolled in PAYE with an income of ~$66k/yr (self-employed). Monthly loan payment ~$420
- Late 2024, I started a corporate job ~$185k/yr salary
- Also late 2024, got married, but my wife and I filed '24 taxes separately (as advised by Sketchy Advisor)
- 2024 and 2025, I was never required to recertify my income. Loan payment stayed at $420 even though my income had roughly tripled
- 2025: Wife and I filed taxes jointly (she stopped working in March, her income for 2025 ~$9k, my income ~$185k)
- 2026: twin babies arrived (yay!) and bought a house (yay but also ouch!)
- Today's student loan snapshot: current balance ~$219,000; I've made payments totaling ~$67,000
I stuck with IBR plans all these years because they all promised loan forgiveness at some point. I have no idea when that's supposed to happen for me. Sketchy Loan Advisor told me that consolidating and enrolling in SAVE, then PAYE, preserved my eligibility for forgiveness, but when I was paying $0/mo those months didn't count?
My current problem: Aidvantage wants me to recertify my income for PAYE by 5/5, but when I fill out the form online, it says I'm no longer eligible for PAYE and offers me a payment of $2,500/mo with no forgiveness. When I call Aidvantage customer support, they tell me to fill out the form and select PAYE, like I'm some kind of idiot who can't read the site.
That's a lot of info! Here's what I'm trying to figure out:
- How do I recertify and stay on PAYE?
- Is PAYE still right for me?
- How do I figure out if my loans will be forgiven, and if so, when?
- Will forgiveness actually help me?
Student loans make me feel like a moron, and I'm glad there are redditors out there who understand them!
How badly have I screwed up, and how do I do better?
byu/RudyWylde inStudentLoans
Posted by RudyWylde
2 Comments
That “sketchy” advisor wasn’t sketchy. He probably set you up with the best options you had at the time.
PAYE is reserved for financial hardship people. You’re not that. You have a large income.
As for forgiveness – what type of forgiveness are you trying to get? Do you mean PSLF or are you talking just X amount of years of qualifying payments?
There is a new RAP payment plan coming out July 1 that may or may not be helpful for people who are “old borrowers” (pre-2014) as yourself (10% of AGI vs. 15% discretionary).
PAYE is going away anyway so you wouldn’t have it much longer even if you did tweak the numbers hard enough to qualify.
Chickens are home to roost, my friend. I am sorry it’s hitting hard but things could be worse, you could have been swindled into private loans or high rates or who knows what. Hang in there!
For recertification, instead of filing manually, you can go to the FSA site and check the box to allow them to link your tax info automatically. No need to recertify again.
ETA: You can check your qualifying payment counts by following [u/waterwicca](https://www.reddit.com/user/waterwicca/)’s instructions [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/StudentLoans/comments/1kxp7mf/financial_aidgov_backend_counter/).