My main questions here are whether there are stipulations about when the loan was taken, when the course of study finishes, and if having a cosigner affects whether one qualifies.

I'll just give my data and see if anybody can find this out for me: Say I have a student loan from Sallie Mae that was taken around January of last year, for a course of studies that terminate in October. One thing I'm wondering, I definitely make (way) less than the income, in fact I make pretty much nothing. But in order to get a loan in the first place I needed to have my parents co-sign, and I'm pretty sure they make more than 125k. Does the income of a cosigner come into play here, or can I still get $10k cancelled?

  • Commander_Data [she/her]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Any loan that requires a co-signer isn't going to qualify. Federal loans don't require a co-signer because they can't be discharged in bankruptcy (thanks, ironically to Brandon) and therefore creditworthiness isn't a factor.

    • RedDawn [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      But why did a state university fucking point me towards this dumb private loan then? I vaguely remember not qualifying for the first thing they recommended and had to go with this one instead. I'm so bummed

      • Commander_Data [she/her]
        ·
        2 years ago

        My guess is because your parents expected contribution was as much as the cost of attendance. From what I understand, when you fill out a FAFSA it considers your parents' income and assets and then says the amount they're expected to contribute to your education.

        • RedDawn [he/him]
          ·
          2 years ago

          I dont remember even being asked about parents income. I'm 30, does that even apply to adults my age?

          • DrunkUncle [none/use name]
            ·
            2 years ago

            Your parents income is only considered on FAFSA if you’re like under 22 years old or something. You should have qualified for pell grants and federal student loans with no co-signer.

              • FuckItNewName [they/them]
                ·
                2 years ago

                I feel you. I have a friend whose dad owns a business and he didn’t qualify for a bunch of the free grants because of that. Meanwhile, that same dad had thrown him through some drywall and kicked him out about 6 months prior to him applying for FAFSA and the guy was basically unhoused. So he was definitely not going to receive a contribution from his parents. But he was listed as a dependent on their taxes so he had to list them.

                • RedDawn [he/him]
                  ·
                  2 years ago

                  I'll look into that, not sure if it's an option. The classes I took should let me get a job with the income to repay the loan so it's not the end of the world, just weird that it's like "hey were canceling some student debt, but no, not you. You took the wrong loan, enjoy paying it off" lol

            • FuckItNewName [they/them]
              ·
              2 years ago

              They probably “partnered” with the institution who offered the loans

              Edit: oh it was Sallie Mae lol