Student Loan Forgiveness Counseling

For borrowers with federal student loans, or a combination of federal and private loans, our student loan experts can help you weigh your options. During your consultation, a specialist will break down your student loan profile, provide a chart on what your new loan payoff could look like, answer questions about what terms are the best for your unique situation, and answer any application questions you may have.

If refinancing is determined to be your best option, they can help you understand what information impacts the interest rate that you might expect to be offered on your loan refinancing. Items such as your FICO score, income level, student loan balance, and current interest rate structure can impact your offer, and your specialist can walk you through how to qualify for the lowest rates on your loans.

Our student loan consultation is designed to explore your federal and private student loan repayment options, so you will need to upload a federal student aid file before you can schedule your Laurel Road consultation. After submitting your initial consultation form, you’ll receive an email with a link to our secure online portal where you’ll be asked to provide a number of items to build out your profile so that your consultant can give you the most accurate assessment based on your unique situation. This information will include:

• Types of loans that you currently hold (federal, private, direct, subsidized, unsubsidized, etc.)
• For your federal loans, you will be asked to provide the My Aid Data file, which you can obtain via your studentaid.gov account
• The balance and interest rate for each of your loans
• Current payment schedule
• Authorization to conduct a soft credit pull, which will not impact your credit score

Once your profile is complete, you will be able to schedule your free student loan consultation.

Please note, if you do not have any federal student loans, you will not be able to schedule a consultation. If you only have private student loans, you can check your refinancing options here.

PSLF is a US government program that allows qualifying borrowers employed at nonprofits and government entities to have their Federal Direct Loans forgiven after ten years of qualifying repayment (120 payments total), usually under an Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plan.

To be eligible for the program, you must:

• Be employed by a qualifying nonprofit OR a US government organization at any level (federal, state, local, or tribal) – including US military service
• Work full-time for that agency or organization
• Have Federal Direct Loans (or consolidate other federal student loans into a Direct Loan)
• Be enrolled in a qualifying repayment plan
• Make 120 qualifying payments

For more information, go to the Federal Student Aid website at StudentAid.gov/publicservice.

Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) was introduced to provide federal student loan borrowers with options other than forbearance to help make monthly payments more manageable. Different IDR options include Income-Based Repayment (IBR), Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR), Pay As You Earn (PAYE), and the newest plan – Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE). All IDR plans adjust federal borrower’s payments based on their adjusted gross income and family size – not how much they owe. Those pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) are typically enrolled in an IDR plan.

The past few years have seen many changes in the federal student loan landscape, from the COVID-era payment pause to numerous changes with the application and processing of federal repayment programs. Though the Department of Education has taken steps to make the process easier, borrowers still face many challenges managing and repaying their student loans. To help you find peace of mind, we’ve created an annual membership that offers expert guidance from our dedicated team who specialize in federal forgiveness programs like Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) and Income-Driven Repayment (IDR).

After completing a free student loan consultation, our team will be able to recommend either a PSLF or IDR Counseling membership based on your individual circumstances. With an annual membership, our team can help you navigate the complexities of federal program updates, track your eligible payments, review your repayment plan options, and help you stay on track towards student loan forgiveness year after year. Our team can also help you make appeals with the Department of Education, if there are any discrepancies, and you’ll have year-round access to our team by phone, email, or video call. The cost of the annual membership is $549, but you can receive a $200 discount* when you combine your membership with a Laurel Road Freedom Plus Checking℠ account and complete qualifying checking activities. The new Freedom Plus Checking account can help you easily track your student loan forgiveness payments and progress – with all the benefits of our digital checking account, learn more here.