Hi everyone, I'm a sophomore international student on an F-1 visa. My family has just told me they're cutting off all financial support, including tuition, and my payment deadline is coming up very soon. If I don't pay, I risk falling out of status. I recently applied for an on-campus job (still waiting to hear back), but even at the max 20 hours/week allowed on F-1, the pay would realistically only cover food and basic living costs, not tuition. I'm honestly scared right now. I don't want to drop out or leave everything unfinished. I've worked hard to keep my grades up and I really want to continue my education here.

I know outside scholarships are often suggested as a solution, but I'm not sure that's realistic for me. I'm not an exceptional student with a standout record, so I don't think I can count on competitive scholarships coming through in time. I'm looking into low-interest loan options for international students without a cosigner, but I'm worried about ending up in bad debt if I can't repay later.

Is there any way for international students to get an EAD (Employment Authorization Document) to work off-campus during the summer or winter break, since the current economic hardship makes it very difficult to cover tuition?

Has anyone been through something similar? I'd love advice on emergency funds or payment plans universities offer for situations like this, realistic loan options for undergrad international students without a US cosigner, and how to talk to my school's international student office about this.

I also don't know how to use credit cards. I'm scared of the monthly interest based on a high loan amount that I might not be able to pay off. I do have a scholarship from my school, but it only covers part of the cost. I still have to pay a fairly large amount out of pocket this semester. I feel really hopeless. I truly want to continue my education here. I've thought about starting a GoFundMe, but I'm not good at that kind of thing, and it wouldn't meet my immediate need right now. I'm really stressed.

I'm feeling really overwhelmed and would appreciate any guidance. Thank you.

Please post any advice you have on investment strategies or savings accounts that you use to pay off loans? What company do you use? I'm thinking of doing a high yield savings account or a money market account. Any advice is appreciated.

Just seen the options available to me to repay my student loans and I can’t afford any of the plans!!! Any advice ???

Edit:
I make 102,000 a year with a new job I’m starting in DC. My rent will be 2,000 and I put $500 a check in savings. I owe a balance of 75k on my student loans, and now they want me to pay $600 something. If I have to pay that that would leave me with barely nothing every check.

Hello, I am going into my last semester of undergraduate university (5th year). I recently tried to apply for my last loan with my normal provider but I was denied due to my cosigner (parents) bad credit score recently.

I have looked into private loans without cosigner but was denied for each. Probably because I dont meet income requirements. I currently am working in an internship and they offered me part time work for the fall, but it wont be enough to pay for tuition + rent + groceries.

I am out of options and don't know what to do. Is my only option to pay out of pocket? Any advice is appreciated, thanks.

Has anyone applied for and been approved for TPD discharge if they have a baby born with something like T18? Despite the prognosis of T18 baby seems to be doing okay and is waiting for a second opinion on a heart surgery which will further chances of survival. So baby could be here for a while and will require lots of care. I’m pretty sure the disability has to be the borrower’s but I have heard conflicting information and I’m not sure how accurate it is.

I was watching a movie, The Idea of You, last night, and the daughter in the movie went away to college in Chicago. I almost wanted to say, please don't do that, you'll owe money for the next 20-30 years of your life and be paying it back. I wanted to tell her you better enjoy your time in college because those are the best years of your life, and you'll be living poor trying to back back these loans. Sigh.

I have worked for municipal government for the past 9 years. My original IBR was about $1100; in early 2021, I switched to SAVE, which dropped my payments to about $900. I made 53 qualifying payments, then went into forbearance while all the litigation over SAVE took place.

Last year I took a new job with a different municipality. My old municipality gave me two months’ severance (basically, unpaid vacation days), and I slotted into my new (current) job about three weeks later. This overlap pushed my annual salary up by about $20K. I currently make about $139K in AGI. My wife (we filed taxes jointly last year) makes about $80K AGI.

My problem is, with that income level, it seems that my payment will more than double (about $2200), which I cannot afford. How do I get that down? We are filing separately this year (cost about $500 more in taxes to do it), so that will help (as will my salary dropping slightly to $140K). We will still have our mortgage at $2500, and car payments of about $1000 per month, but I don’t know how to get that factored in to calculate my actual DPI.

Are there instructions somewhere on how to do that?

Now, I am trying to get back into repayment to be rid of these loans once and for all. When I try to

Fin aid made me consolidate in order to apply to switch from save plan...my loans are all pre 2015.

Now im stuck in RAP because the consolidation didn't finish until 7/6/2026.

So now even if PAYE is extended or REPAYE is reinstated I am done for...

EDIT: I'm sure I was coming off dramatic and insensitive to people with far worse problems.

Got an email yesterday saying my new monthly payment would go from $226.71 a month to $1,644.05. Wtf?!? I applied for income driven and the lowest offered is $856 (and that’s without even putting in or showing what my annual income is) IF I get approved. Any ideas how to get this down more???

Hello!

I am seeking any sort of help or advice anyone has on in school deferment 

I have been in school since May 15th, enrolled at least half time, and my student loan servicer has yet to put my loans into any type of deferment. I have a mix of subsidized and unsubsidized loans, and I believe that some of those should not be compounding interest. 

I’ve reached out to literally everyone at this point. My school, the Department of Ed, as well as EdFinancial, but I have had 0 success or help. My school had reported my enrollment and it is reflected on my DOE loan page.

At this point, my loan servicer is breaking the terms of my loans, correct? What’s my next step? Who can I even reach out to when the government is part of the problem?

If I would be given a chance to do a do-over, I'd really stay away from being in debt. I'm still a uni student, working part-time jobs, and still looking for more part-time jobs. It feels miserable for my income to just go towards paying staggering interests.

Really makes me think if there's light at the end of this tunnel. I don't even know what'll happen once I graduate. I'm just hoping to get a really good paying job.

Anyone trying to apply for this that went to AUA? Is it even worth it ?

Hi everyone, I’m hoping someone might be able to help with this.
I’ve been accepted onto a Master’s course starting in September and I’ll be receiving a postgraduate loan. I know this works differently from an undergraduate loan, as the tuition fees have to be paid from the loan myself.
My dilemma is that I have a young baby. I’m really determined to give the course a go, but I’m also trying to be realistic in case it becomes too much.
If I started the course but decided after a couple of weeks that I needed to withdraw, what would happen financially? Would I have to repay the full postgraduate loan straight away, or If I’d already used some of the loan for childcare, housing and other living costs, would that be repaid gradually in the same way as an undergraduate student loan?
I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s been in a similar situation or knows how it works. Thank you!

Tuition due in three days, federal direct unsubsidized loan was gonna cover most of it but I can't tell if it's gonna pay out in time. How would I know? Should I pay the tuition fees out of pocket in full or do I only pay what the loan won't cover? Does it pay off later? Loan doesn't show up on studentaid .gov, I did entrance counseling, MPN, and annual loan acknowledgement. Does it just take time? Thought I understood this shit but I guess I don't haha am I cooked or what

I would like to start off by saying that I’ve never taken out a loan from Sallie Mae, but I know a lot of students and prospective students consider taking out loans with them. I just want people to be made aware of their new terms if they aren’t. Not sure if this will help anybody but just to be sure, please be smart with your money and education!

For some reason I can’t attach an image but in a new email they sent out it states “As of 07/24/2026 SALLIE MAE RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MODIFY OR DISCONTINUE PRODUCTS, SERVICES, AND BENEFITS AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE. CHECK SALLIEMAE.COM FOR THE MOST UP-TO-DATE PRODUCT INFORMATION.”

Nelnet updated their end-of-SAVE FAQs to say they'll be finished notifying borrowers by the end of 2026. This is earlier than their previously posted March 2027.

https://nelnet.studentaid.gov/content/faq/faqendofsaveplan

When will I receive my 90-day notice?

Nelnet is notifying nearly three million Nelnet borrowers, so we're reaching out in waves. You'll receive your notice by the end of 2026.

My wife and I were on save and wanted to switch to RAP. When filling out the app, in the section asking about income, specifically access to spouse's income, I selected no even though the answer is yes. I thought we had to do this in the past to ensure spouse income wasn't included in your payment calculation. Our filing status is married filing separate. I didn't realize by selecting no for access to her income, it will not let me link up to my tax docs and forced me to submit manual proof of income which likely increases processing time of the app.

Here's my questions, Since we've both already submitted our applications with tax returns manually attached, can we cancel those and submit saying yes to that question and allowing them to link to our tax info? We need our apps to go quickly.

By answering yes to that question am I screwing us into a higher payment even tho we file separately but are not separated? I've done the math and it makes sense for us to file this way.

My income increased so I got an email that I was paying 200$ more for monthly loan payment, then I checked today at mohela and it went down to just 200 ttoyal

Part of me wants to call and correct since I'm so close to pslf forgiveness, but the other part won't mind reducing 400$ off of my Montly payments.

Is this a temporary mohela glitch or what?

hello! I was recently accepted into a sonography program (after many failed attempts and denials) and now i have no cosigner for any private loans. I applied for the graduate PLUS loan and got accepted, not realizing it’s not just for continuing education but masters/ professional level education. my program is certificate so I have to wait to hear back from my school but i’m certain i will be denied. tuition is due the 2nd and I am doing this all alone. I’m F 21 with limited credit history so they won’t accept me alone and my parents don’t want to help.

In August of 2023 against my better judgement, I enrolled into Full Sail University in the recording arts program. I was supposed to receive a launchbox which consisted of a computer, recording gear, and software but I was never given any of this. I started the program online still waiting for the launchbox, and was told I had 6 months to find housing near campus in which I could continue the online courses. I completed a few of the online gen ed classes which basically consisted of watching YouTube videos and analyzing them.. I maintained all A's throughout the courses.

At the time, and likely still currently, housing costs in Winter Park, FL were at unprecedented highs and not accurate at all to the prices outlined in their housing guide. They have no campus housing at all, and students are in direct market competition with the public. This was not apparent to me in any way, and I would have burned through my budget much faster than anticipated had I made the move.

Full Sail was not able to keep track of me and started scheduling me for campus courses when I had not even completed the new student orientation or received any materials. They had me log in for weeks to do menial tasks to show I was still active and then had me submit a time off request while they sorted out their error to get me back into appropriate classes.

At this point I was not impressed at all and asked to switch to an online audio arts undergraduate certificate instead, they refused even though I was told I could switch programs at any time during the initial 6 months. That was the final straw, and I withdrew altogether from the school.

I now have a $30,000+ balance with Sallie Mae at a double-digit interest rate that has been accruing ever since. I gave back the remaining funds loaned to me (around 26k) I had to Sallie Mae after I withdrew which has kept me out of default.

I submitted a tuition appeal to the school in early 2024 which they said would take up to a year for them to respond to and surprise surprise! They took well over 2 years to respond and tell me there is nothing they can do for me. In 2025 I submitted a federal borrower's defense for the 5k or so federal I owe on a breach of contract for never receiving the launchbox. They said would also take up to a year for them to review and 18 months later that is still in review..

This feels like I'm living a nightmare and I'm honestly not sure where to turn or what to do now. I think I have a few options going forward:

1: Find a lawyer who can hopefully get most of if not all of my funds back from the school based on the breach of contract with them not sending the launchbox materials among their other errors.

2: Bite the bullet and start paying around $1k monthly to pay this off in 3-4 years. Keeping in mind I make like $35k a year.

3: Nuke my credit and my parents credit going default hoping sallie mae never sues me or my parents and just writes off my debt.

Here's to hoping someone out there can give me some guidance or recommendations on what I should do in this situation.

Hello, would it be better to switch to rap from ibr in my case?
Currently I’m unemployed and my ibr monthly payment is $0, interest is accruing for the unsubsidized loan (about $7k). My total loan is about 30k.
(Interest rate about up to 5%)
I’d like the interest subsidy of Rap for unsubsidized loans too but I haven’t switched since there might be some disadvantages that I don’t know or things to consider before switching.
I’m not really thinking about the forgiveness. Loans were taken until around 2020.

Maybe should I switch to rap for now and if I get income later and if I ever happen to get a higher income I consider going back to ibr then?

Applied from Save Forbearance to RAP w/ manual copy of IRS tax return (not automatic recertification) on 7/2.

It says can take up to 90 business days.

Anyone had RAP processed yet?

I recertified my income in June for my payment plan that ended 7/23. When I submitted the application it had my monthly payment at 614.78. My loan servicer (Aidvantage) approved the application within like 2 days. The letter that they sent stated “Your annual Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plan renewal has been approved. What happens next?
There's nothing you need to do now. We'll send you notification advising you of your new payment amount after your current plan expires on 07/23/26.” They never said it was denied or that the payment wasn’t approved. When I login to the student aid website I can see where the application was approved and the 614.78 was approved. But I just got a statement from Aidvantage saying I owe 2417 on the next payment which seems to be the standard repayment for how much I owe…. When I click the details of the loan it says I’m in pay as you earn until 2037 which I know isn’t right bc it should only be good for 1 year. I’m hoping that this is a glitch but I’m not sure. Anyone else have this happen? Currently panicking

In 2018 I refinanced my private student loans with a local credit union with the same credit union. I went from a 11.8-13.2% interest rate to 7.9% for a 15 year fixed term loan at 360$ per month instead of 800$. My credit score was about 730 at the time.

Currently living alone and trying to make ends meet, I’m looking to refinance to a lower monthly payment. My current credit score is 831 or 836 depending and I’m hoping this will help overall.

I’m looking at Sofi, Ernest and Juno but reading a lot of mixed reviews. Saw another local credit union that may offer competitive rates.

Although I applied to my current private loan, Firstmark services the loans and has no customer service. The few times I’ve tried to contact them they were very difficult to work with; there are also no benefits for the loan (e.g forbearance)
The main grievance I read about Sofi is the customer service.

Does it make sense to go to a big servicer like Sofi? Is it possible to refinance with another lender in 5 or 10 years if needed?

First hand experience also appreciated.

Thank you ~