Parents who took on debt for their children’s college education restart their payments
Freddie Ramos took out $20,000 in loans to pay for his son’s degree. The family is cutting back on expenses as a three-year payment pause ends.
Federal student loan payments resumed in October 2023 after a three-year pandemic pause. Illinois residents owe nearly $62 billion in student debt. That’s an average of nearly $38,000 per borrower.
WBEZ is answering questions from Illinois borrowers and sharing their reflections on what the pause has meant to them, how they’re managing the payment restart and whether their debt was worth it.
Freddie Ramos took out $20,000 in loans to pay for his son’s degree. The family is cutting back on expenses as a three-year payment pause ends.
Taking advantage of the three-year pause on payments, Brianna Kidd, a 30-year-old college grad, worked two jobs and lived with her dad to do it.
Andrew Palomo of Bolingbrook is figuring out how to juggle his resumed loan payments with the costs of food, housing — and now childcare.
The three-year pause is over for an estimated 43 million borrowers, including 1.5 million Illinoisans. To help, we researched your burning questions.
Chicago-area borrowers may see debt drop by 40% under a program started this week. Here’s where to apply and other tips.
A sharply divided Supreme Court has ruled that the Biden administration overstepped its authority in trying to cancel or reduce student loans for millions of Americans.
“I just feel like I’m going to die paying off my student loans,” said one high school counselor in Southeast Chicago this week after the president introduced a plan to aid nearly 25 million more …