Documents to Copy in Case of Department of Education changes

While it is unlikely that the Trump administration will close the Department of Education anytime soon, it is clear that ED will be dismantled in some form over the next few months to years.  Many of its functions may discontinue or be passed to other federal or even state agencies.

It may be important to download information now while it is easily accessible to save time in the future.  You may need to prove loan balances, payments and the like to protect yourself in case of inaccuracies with a systemic change.  We would suggest that you download your StudentAid.gov records (NSLDS file, dashboard screenshot, PSLF and IDR tracking details), and your loan servicer records (payment histories, key notices/letters).

Keep this information just in case.

Especially the IDR tracking details.  If you don’t have many more months to go, a couple things to keep in mind.  One, if your count has only a few months left, ideally you’d want to be in an Income Driven Plan such as IBR or Paye (if eligible and you want the 20 versus 25 years), to get your forgiveness approved.

In other words, don’t wait for the SAVE litigation to end.  Any forgiveness approved now will be tax free (until December 31, 2025, and your loans would be highly unlikely to be reinstated).  However, forgiveness is not necessarily guaranteed going forward because of the political climate.  While we don’t expect plans such as IBR to go away (they are built into your Promissory Note and Congressional passed), the terms could change.

Hope this has been helpful!