MONROE, Louisiana (KNOE) – A federal report shows that only 40% of student loan borrowers will make their payments in January 2024.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office found that in education, $1.5 trillion in outstanding federal student loans remained open to nearly 43 million borrowers as of January 2024. Only 13.3 million borrowers were current on their payments.
ULM’s financial aid office staff say they always recommend the best student loan options to students as early as possible when needed.
“And we include a ‘money issues’ session in everything we do on this campus to educate them on the difference between grants and loans and that grants are free and loans have to be paid back – and here’s what the world says, but here it is in black and white: that you have to pay these back. But they’re here for educational purposes,” said Erica Hopko, ULM’s assistant director of financial aid.
According to the federal report released Wednesday (August 14), nearly 9.7 million borrowers were behind on their payments, representing $290 billion in outstanding loans.
“A lot of people assume they can wait; they have to wait to pay it back, but that’s not the case. You can actually pay it back while you’re in school. We explain to them the difference between the method where interest accrues and the method where it doesn’t while they’re in school,” Hopko said.
The report states that 4.5 million borrowers were current with their payments and were on income-driven repayment plans where they were supposed to pay zero dollars. While students are studying, according to ULM’s financial aid service, there is no need for a student to take out a loan if they only have, say, a thousand dollars left.
“We offer our students a payment plan here that is really beneficial for them. They can split their balance into four installments. That would be something like August, September, October and November for a fall semester,” Hopko said.
Students and parents can find information about financial aid from the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance.
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