skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, October 15, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Lebanese children have been displaced; hospital facility fees have cost Colorado patients $13 billion; and a Wyoming county without a hospital is finally getting one.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas warns about false claims affecting FEMA's hurricane relief, Vice President Harris prepares for a Fox News interview, and local Democrats want more election funds in key states.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Hurricane Helene devastated the Appalachians and some rural towns worry larger communities could get more attention, ranked choice voting on the Oregon ballot next month gets mixed reviews, and New York farmers are earning extra money feeding school kids.

Student Loan Repayment Program Benefits Low-Income Borrowers

play audio
Play

Thursday, June 1, 2023   

A proposal from the federal government could provide a better path toward student loan debt repayment, but a new survey finds many borrowers don't know about this option.

While the fate of the Biden Administration's debt erasure plan is in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court, income driven repayment plans offer a next best option for former students. Through such plans, people pay based on their income rather than the amount they borrowed.

Lane Thompson, student loan ombuds for the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation, said a proposal from the U.S. Department of Education would make this type of plan even more attractive.

"Let people keep a higher percentage of their earned income, be a smaller percentage of monthly income and allow for forgiveness after 10 years, rather than 20 or 25," Thompson outlined.

However, a survey from New America found the people who would benefit most from income driven repayment plans do not know they exist. According to the report, more than 40% of low income borrowers had not heard of the plans.

Thompson stressed it is a problem.

"It really is an issue that more folks don't know about these," Thompson noted. "I think it would be to the benefit of everybody if we knew more about the income driven repayment plans, as borrowers."

Thompson added borrowers also should know about the Fresh Start program. The temporary program gets people out of default and removes the default from their credit report. Borrowers need to contact their loan provider to access the program.

Loan repayment is likely to begin later this summer.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The Florida Association of Community Health Centers has a Disaster Relief Fund, which raises money to assist health center staff and their families in recovering from the devastation of hurricanes Helene and Milton. (Pixabay)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Following Hurricane Helene, Hurricane Milton left a trail of destruction across the Sunshine State and the combination has pushed some Community …


Social Issues

play sound

OutNebraska's Prairie Pride Film Festival returns for its 14th year this week. Johnny Redd, communications manager for OutNebraska, said the …

Health and Wellness

play sound

"Facility fees" originally meant to help struggling hospitals keep emergency room doors open 24 hours a day are now being applied to outpatient servic…


Health and Wellness

play sound

By Sarah Jane Tribble for KFF Health News.Broadcast version by Kathleen Shannon for Wyoming News Service reporting for the KFF Health News-Public News…

Though a Marist poll found 81% of New York City residents do not want Mayor Eric Adams to run again, campaign finance data show he has the most spending capital of all 2025 mayoral candidates. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New York City election integrity is under added scrutiny after Mayor Eric Adams' indictment. Part of the indictment alleges Adams broke campaign …

Health and Wellness

play sound

Providence Health and Services could close an at-home program enabling communication by people with diseases making it hard or impossible to speak…

Social Issues

play sound

Pennsylvania's landscape is undergoing a transformation, paid for with billions in federal funding from the Inflation Reduction Act and the …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021