Today was a landmark day at the gym for me because it marks a milestone in my renewed interest in working out. My workout this afternoon marked six days in a row that I’ve gone to the gym. Sure, it’s no big thing and there are many people reading this who go to the gym religiously everyday and that’s awesome. However, I went back through my Google Calendar and it seems that the last time that I worked out for even five days in a row was May 2007 (and only two of those days were actually spent at a gym). Today I beat my May 2007 numbers.
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Hope For My Student Loan Debt…Maybe
Yesterday, I found out that the rules and regulations for the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 (CCRAA) were finalized. These regulations included something called the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. In short, this program allows those working for nonprofit organizations to have the balance of their federal student loans forgiven after ten years of payments (with the clocking beginning in October 2007). The payments do not need to be consecutive, they just need to be comprised of 120 monthly payments (paying twice in one month does not count as two payments). I had to find out more about this program, so I contacted the program administrator in Washington, DC to get the facts. Here is our conversation starting with my e-mail to the program administrator:
My name is Joe and I am contacting you about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program created by the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007. I have been working, full-time, for nonprofit organizations since May 2005. I have approximately $56,000 in federal student loans (a Direct Loans consolidation loan) and $48,000 in private student loans.
I understand that the private student loans do not qualify for the new provisions, however, I want to confirm that my Direct Loans consolidation loan does qualify. Also, I’ve read that the new regulations apply to payments made from October 2007 forward. Since I make my payments each month, does this mean that I can count my last 14 payments towards the 120 required for the balance of the loan to be forgiven? Is there anyway to count the previous monthly payments that I’ve made since I began repayment in July 2006?
Please let me know if you need any additional information. This is exciting news!
And here is the response from the program administrator in Washington, DC.
Good Morning Joe,
Your Direct loan consolidation loan will qualify for the forgiveness, and will count payments beginning on October 2007 forward. So, all payments made from the Oct. date on will count towards the 120 payments. Sorry, none of the payments made before that date can or will count towards the 120 payments. I’m glad that the public service forgiveness program will be a great benefit for you. If there is anything else I can do to help, please let me know.
A very friendly response from the feds – I like it! I thought that I should return the favor with a comment or two of my own and another question or so.
Thank you so much for the information! A final question or two.
First, do the 120 payments need to correspond to 120 months? Or if I make two payments in one month does that count as 2 payments towards the 120?
And finally, is there anything that I need to sign up for in order to be a part of this program? Or do I just track the payments on my own and when I hit 120 payments I contact Direct Loans?
And, within a matter of minutes, the program administrator replied as such…
One payment per month is what counts towards the 120 payments and direct loans will track the payments for you, we are also in the process of developing a form to have your employer sign as a public service position to tie the job with the payments.
This was perhaps the most pleasant experience that I’ve ever had dealing with my student loans. The representative, Ms. Nikki Harris, was professional and courteous and showed the utmost in professionalism in her prompt responses to my questions. And on top of that, I might be looking at getting some of my student loans forgiven after another 106 payments!
I have to figure out what I’d like to do with this, actually. I’ve been making excess payments on both my private NJHESAA loan and my Direct Loans consolidation loan. However, since I am being charged more on my NJHESAA loan and there is a possibility to have the Direct Loan forgiven at some point, it might make sense to begin adding more to my monthly payments to NJHESAA and then see where I’m at in a few years with the Direct Loans. The problem that I have with NJHESAA, though, is that you can’t make online payments – it’s so archaic.
Anyway, I take this information about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program as a good sign. This is a good way to begin the new year!
Unnecessary Complications: Ridiculous Student Excuses
So this is an interesting entry to write and I think you’ll understand why after a few lines (read on). Being an adjunct professor at the local college puts me in a weird situation where I am now the person standing in the front of the classroom. It’s awkward at first, but you get over it in a matter of minutes. In fact, I find that I actually love teaching and if the pay was respectable (it is not), I would pursue it full-time. For some reason I don’t think that it’s logical to pursue a doctorate at this time so I can enter a profession what would require me to take a major pay reduction.
Not a smart move, right?
Anyway, now that I’m the guy in the front of the room I have a much greater appreciation for what professors have to go through. As the title of this entry suggests, I now have an appreciation for some really ridiculous student excuses when it comes to handing in their work on time. Some background information: my students are made aware that an 8 – 10 page paper is due on November 26. And since we don’t have class on that date, I even told the students that since November 26 ends at 11:59pm, they have the entire day to send me the e-mail with their paper attached. What a nice guy!
My students are also made aware that every day the paper is late, the student loses 10 points from their grade (some professors say that you lose a letter grade for each day that a paper is late, but I prefer to use points because it gives the students more time to send in the paper and still earn some credit). All of this is spelled out in the syllabus as is required by the university. So what can you expect between 11:30pm and 11:59pm on November 26? That’s right – tons of e-mails from the students. And I’m fine with that! It’s part of the deal – I get it and I understand completely.
But what I do not understand is when students hand in a paper 5 days late and expect to not lose 50 points from the paper’s final grade. I repeat in every class that if the paper is late, you lose points. Yet when points are lost, students are confused…which, in turn, confuses me. And what really gets me are the students who give me ridiculous excuses as to why the papers are late. The most ridiculous excuse that I get these days is, “I sent my paper by e-mail – I KNOW I did! But I don’t see it in my sent folder, so here it is again. Please do not mark it as late.”
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!
Riiiiiiiiiiiight! And I’m the Easter Bunny! What’s great about these students is that they send you a Microsoft Word document that actually tells you when the document was created. In other words, I can go in to an area of Word and have it tell me that the document was created on November 30. This is the same document that was due four days earlier!
I felt compelled to write this entry because when I was an undergraduate I never handed in anything late. And if I had a problem getting something in on time, it was a real situation and I was sure to get the item in on time by any means necessary. Who spends all of that money to go to college and then doesn’t actually hand in a damn 8 to 10 page paper on time – especially when you have three months to write it?!?
It’s amazing, really.
The NJ Province Scholarship Established
A few weeks back (early December), I wrote a post talking about a scholarship fund that I helped establish for brothers of Sigma Pi Fraternity at Monmouth University. Well, I’m at it again, but this time on a bit of a bigger scale.
I’m proud and excited to announce the creation of The NJ Province Scholarship Fund with the Sigma Pi Educational Foundation. This fund will award an annual scholarship to a deserving brother of Sigma Pi Fraternity who attends school in New Jersey. The exact criteria for the award is listed below:
The NJ Province Scholarship will be awarded to an active, full-time member of any of the active chapters located in the state of New Jersey. This award will recognize the initiated member who most exemplifies the ideals of Sigma Pi through academic excellence, chapter leadership, philanthropic service, and community involvement.
I’m very excited to be working on this fund for many reasons, not the least of which is my own history with student loan debt. If one of my legacies in life can be that I helped start a fund that helped one more kid afford going to college in America’s most expensive state, then I’ll be happy with that legacy.
At this time, we are in the process of raise funds for the scholarship. We’re grateful and happy to take donations in any amount from alumni, friends, family, and local businesses who believe in making college more affordable for New Jersey students. If you’re interested in making a tax-deductible donation to this fund, please contact me and I’ll be more than happy to assist you.
The Delta-Beta Chapter Scholarship is Established
Obviously, no one knows what it’s like to have a ridiculous amount of student loans to pay off more than I do. That’s why I’m pleased to announce a new scholarship that has been established for my fraternity brothers at my undergraduate institution, Monmouth University!
The Delta-Beta Chapter Scholarship will be awarded to an active, full-time member of the Delta-Beta Chapter of Sigma Pi Fraternity at Monmouth University. This award will recognize the initiated member who most exemplifies the ideals of Sigma Pi through academic excellence, chapter leadership, philanthropic service, and community involvement.
We hope to award this scholarship as early as December 2007!
And if any of you are interested in making a donation to the tax-deductible fund, let me know!
