Blog

Did you faithfully make the 120 qualifying payments toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness—a process that takes about 10 years—only to have your claim for forgiveness denied?

It’s not just you. A lot of borrowers have had this problem. The good news is that Congress just authorized a fix for it in its March spending bill. It’s called “Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness” (TEPSLF), and it sets aside over $350 million in forgiveness funding for people who were initially denied.

Babies cost a lot—even more than you owe to Sallie Mae. But you don’t have to throw your finances out with the bathwater when you have one. 

Lots of people do have kids and debt at the same time, and make it work. And those people aren’t that special. So no, you don't need to pay off your student loans before having a baby.

The world is full of terrible financial advice. Some of it is worse than others, but a certain percentage is just cringe-inducingly bad.

Here’s a roundup of the financial advice we most love to hate.

The short answer: nope.

The long answer goes a little more like nope, in most cases. As of January 1, 2018, if you get your student loan debt discharged due to disability, you won’t be taxed on the discharged amount. This is big news, because prior to then, you would get taxed on that amount.

If you have NelNet loans, you might have considered refinancing as an option to get a lower interest rate or monthly payment. 

Technically, you can't refinance your loans directly through NelNet, but that doesn't mean that refinancing is off the table—you'll just have to do it through a private lender. Here's what you need to know. 

If you've gotten a letter or call from a company called NelNet related to your student loans, you might have wondered if the company was legit or if you were being scammed. While it's good to use caution with your financial info, rest easy on this one. NelNet is legit. 

About 20% student loan payments funded through the U.S. Department of Education are serviced by NelNet. Here's what you need to know about NelNet and how to confirm that they're your provider.