~Veronica

- Mississippi

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My husband and I are both the first people in our direct lines to attend college.  He was fortunate to have his undergraduate education paid for by the department of rehabilitation services in his home state, and I was solely responsible for my undergraduate education.  As such, I had a combination of scholarships, pell grants, work study and subsidized federal loans to pay for my undergraduate education.  We both went on to pursue master’s degrees, in our chosen fields. We both have a mix of subsidized, unsubsized loans, research and teaching grants for our master’s degrees.  We had our first child and took contract positions with the federal government in 2001.  

Instead of forbearance, we were guided to apply for a spousal consolidation loan to combine and reduce our payments. We signed the 30 year agreement in 2002 and have made on time payments since then, with the exception of a short forbearance during Katrina recovery.  Our original loan was for $56,110. We have paid, to date, $31,896 in principal and $31,648 in interest, with a balance of $28,178 remaining.  I will be paying this loan until 7/11/2033.  I will be 57 years old, and I will be eligible to retire from state service in 2029, however I will not be able to do so.  
 
When the PSFL program was announced in 2007, I knew I had several years before I would be eligible.  When the 10 years passed, I investigated forgiveness, to be told I was in the wrong loan, and would have to start over. I considered the options and knew that as our own children were approaching their teenage and college years, we could not afford an increase in payment.  Little did I know, that choice would keep me from ever being able to take advantage of the PSLF program, because the spousal consolidation loan could not be undone, and has never been included in the program.  Even though our loan is a “Federal Family Education Loan” it does not qualify.  

When the temporary waiver was announced, I was disappointed to learn that again I had been left out of forgiveness, even though I have almost 18 years of dedicated state service. My husbands portion of the loan is not forgivable, but we have more than paid his off. Under the waiver, I should be able to refunded on monies I’ve paid above and beyond my 10 years, but to be honest, all I want is to separate the loans, and have remaining forgiven. 
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