Emerson College believes its role as a resource doesn’t end with graduation. We are here to provide information and assistance aimed at helping you transition from student to responsible loan borrower.
Repaying educational loans can be a significant challenge. How you handle your repayment responsibilities can greatly impact your credit rating. Becoming delinquent on student loans can make it very difficult for you to make major purchases, such as a car or a home. On the other hand, responsible repayment habits can help you to build an excellent credit history. For these reasons, we urge you to take your repayment responsibilities seriously.
If you need assistance, we are here for you either by phone: 617-824-8655, or via email: studentloans [at] emerson.edu (studentloans[at]emerson[dot]edu)
Determining Your Loan Repayment Amount
- Determine how much federal student loan debt you have and the contact information for who you need to repay by visiting studentaid.gov.
NOTE: This database does not keep track of any alternative loans you borrow (e.g., Sallie Mae loans, Citibank loans). If you borrowed alternative loans, you must contact your lender directly. - Estimate your total monthly repayment amount for all of your student loans. You should contact your lender/s for this information. You can also use repayment calculators such as the ones found on the Mapping Your Future website. If you would like to also calculate your monthly repayment amount to include your alternative loans, you can use the repayment calculator available on finaid.org.
If you are a former student who left Emerson owing money on his or her student account, visit Past Due Tuition Accounts to get information on how to settle your account and release your academic transcripts.
Student Loan Forgiveness FAQ
On Wednesday, August 24, 2022, the Biden Administration announced forgiveness of up to $20,000 of federally held student loan debt and a final extension of the pause in repayment and 0% interest rate through December 31, 2022. In addition, a new Income Driven Repayment Plan will become available that will reduce monthly payments and total indebtedness for those who enroll. Information about these programs and next steps for borrowers is evolving. The announcement from the Biden Administration and updates for borrowers can be found here.
Update (11/22/2022): The Biden Administration and Department of Education have recently announced that, due to multiple court cases, they are no longer accepting applications for student debt relief. They hope to reopen applications in the near future, and are continuing to review any applications they've already received. Please check this page for additional updates.
Update (9/13/2022): The Department of Education has released a comprehensive FAQ and suggested next steps for borrowers to prepare them for loan forgiveness and re-entering repayment. The Office of Financial Aid remains available to anyone with questions about their specific situation, and we encourage you to stay in contact with your loan servicer for next steps.
How do I apply for my loan forgiveness?
In the coming weeks, borrowers will receive communication from the Department of Education about next steps. Borrowers will need to complete a form to verify their income and eligibility for loan forgiveness.This form is expected to be available in early October. Additionally, not everyone will need to complete it. Some borrowers may have their relevant income data already on file with the Department of Education, and may not need to do anything further. What you can and should do right now is review the contact information that your loan servicer has on file for you. If anything about your contact information has changed, be sure to make those updates with your servicer immediately.
Who Qualifies for loan forgiveness?
Borrowers of federally held student loans, including subsidized, unsubsidized, Parent PLUS, and Graduate PLUS loans, are eligible for up to $10,000 of forgiveness if they have an individual income under $125,000, or a family income under $250,000. Borrowers who received Pell Grant funds while in college will receive debt forgiveness of up to $20,000.
- Current undergraduate students are eligible for this forgiveness for any loans borrowed prior to July 1, 2022. Dependent undergraduate student income eligibility will be based on your parents’ income.
- Parent PLUS borrowers will only be eligible for up to $10,000 in debt cancellation, regardless of whether your student received Pell Grant funds in college.
What does “up to” mean?
Some borrowers who are eligible for debt forgiveness may owe less than the $10,000 or $20,000 maximums. In this case, their maximum forgiveness amount will be their entire loan balance.
Are there any student loans that aren’t part of this forgiveness plan?
Yes. This announcement applies only to federally held student loan debt. Privately held loans, Perkins loans, and any state-sponsored student loans are not eligible for forgiveness under this program.
Will I need to pay taxes on my forgiven student loan debt?
The American Rescue Plan Act paused federal taxation on federal student loan debt forgiven between 2021 and the end of 2025. Individual states may be releasing guidance soon as to whether they consider this loan forgiveness to be taxable income.
What else was announced alongside debt forgiveness?
The Biden Administration has acknowledged that forgiving debt for current borrowers is only one step in the process of overhauling the federal student loan system. In addition to the debt forgiveness program, they announced a new Income Driven Repayment (IDR) plan that will provide stronger support to borrowers in repayment. Under this plan, payments will go no higher than 5% of a borrower’s calculated discretionary income and any interest not covered by a borrower’s monthly payment will be forgiven. Any outstanding balance owed up to $12,000 will be forgiven after 10 years of repayment. Additionally, more of a borrower’s income will be protected from the discretionary income calculation.
Under previous IDR plans, payments were capped at 10% of a borrower’s calculated discretionary income, unpaid interest continued to compound, and debt forgiveness was only allowed after 20 years of repayment. All told, the new IDR plan could cut borrowers’ expected monthly payments significantly compared to previous plans.
Was the temporary waiver for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Extended?
No. Borrowers will only have until October 31, 2022 to enroll in Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) under the waiver. This waiver temporarily expands eligibility for PSLF to anyone who has worked in public service (defined as federal, state, local, tribal government or a non-profit organization) for ten years or longer, consecutively or non-consecutively, and makes 120 payments under any payment plan during those years of employment. Any outstanding balance after 120 payments is forgiven. During the national repayment pause (March 2020 to December 2022), no payment is required and each month will still count toward the required 120 payments. Previously, a borrower needed to have 10 consecutive years of payments under an eligible repayment plan in order to qualify for this forgiveness. Check your eligibility for the program and enroll at PSLF.gov
Where can I get more information?
We will continue to update this page with new information as it becomes available to us. In the meantime, please review these links for updates from the Department of Education and steps you can take right now to prepare for loan forgiveness and repayment.
- Studentaid.gov Debt Relief Announcement and Frequently Asked Questions
- Apply for Public Service Loan Forgiveness
- Log in to Studentaid.gov to See Your Loan Servicer Information and Whether You Had a Pell Grant in College *Please note that this website is seeing major traffic due to the debt forgiveness announcement and may be running slowly.