EDUCATION RESOURCES
Student Loans
NOTE: This is for Federal loans, not private loans, be sure to check what you have. If you have private loans this may not be applicable.
Free help with change in student aid can be found at Swift Student
On the Federal level
All loans owned by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) will have interest waived through September 30, 2020. That includes Direct Loans, as well as Federal Perkins Loans and Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loans held by the Department of Education. Starting March 13, 2020, your federal student loan interest rate will temporarily be set to 0%. This happens automatically.
Ability to pause payment on your federal student loans until September 30, 2020. If you want to suspend payment of your federal student loans for 60 days without any penalty, you can contact your federal student loan servicer to request an administrative forbearance. This is not automatic.
Ability to count these 6 months of no federal student loan payments for purposes of any student loan forgiveness program, including public service loan forgiveness.
Ability for your employer to pay up to $5,250 of your student loans tax-free.
There is NO broad loan forgiveness in the latest bill.
If you are not sure if your loans are qualified for interest reduction:
Contact your loan servicer online or by phone to determine if your loans are eligible. Your servicer is the entity to which you make your monthly payment.
If you do not know who your servicer is or how to contact them, visit StudentAid.gov/login or call us at 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243; TTY for the deaf or hearing-impaired 1-800-730-8913) for assistance.
Also constantly check this website as updates will be ongoing.
For very specific information pertinent to every type of loan and corresponding changes you may be able to maximize during this crisis please see this Congressional Research Service Report on higher education
New York State
Here is the application for suspension of medical or student debt collection activity in New York State.
NYC Public Schools
Many families have children in NYC public schools. Now that the schools are physically closed, the NYC Department of Education has begun educating students virtually.
The Department of Education posts about remote learning here.
Families can request a device.
Find contact information for your child’s school here.
Resources for families from the United Federation of Teachers.
DOE families / students who have been unable to obtain internet access and/or a device for remote learning can fill out a brief survey embedded in this Chalkbeat article.