The Student Union Building Gold Room hosted the first of five student loan repayment workshops Tuesday evening, hoping to give seniors with student loans a break on repayment stress.
Ricky Scuderi | Argonaut
Jeanie Lewinski, front, from the University of Idaho Financial Aid Office explains different options for repaying student loans to Richard Wilson, a senior in Architecture, in the Silver and Gold room in the Student Union Building. On Tuesday, the Financial Aid Office hosted a workshop helping graduating students understand their loan repayment options. It included everything from consolidation to forbearance.
Richard Wilson, a senior graduating in architecture, was the only one to attend the workshop Tuesday, but Jeanie Levinski and Michael Placke of the University of Idaho’s financial services, said they hope attendance will rise for the remaining workshops.
These workshops will take place between now and May 15. Levinski and Placke hope to remove the mystery from student loan repayment plans, and with that, also remove the pressure seniors feel as graduation draws closer.
Levinski and Placke spoke with Wilson about options students have after they graduate with repaying the loans they took out that allowed them to attend school. There are several student options and payment plans, but knowing which one works best for you is the most important part, said Dan Davenport, UI Director of Student Financial Aid Services.
“The biggest mistake students can make is not taking care of their student loans to make sure they do something when they’re out of school,” Davenport said.
Davenport said picking a payment plan is an easy thing to do and there are resources for students on campus, such as these workshops.
“Then you don’t default, and it doesn’t ruin your credit status, and then you don’t get any other charges,” Davenport said. “Even if you’re not making much, you can make some small payments to stay out of default.”
Placke emphasized the importance of keeping your addresses up to date so you can actively interact with the student loan repayments. Just taking care of it and exploring options helps avoid trouble.
The best advice Davenport said he could give to students is to stay informed and do anything to stay in contact with repayment options.
Part of staying informed could come in the form of attending these workshops that the university offers. They go through the steps toward repayment after college and help students manage their decisions, Davenport said.
Placke and Levinski covered recent loan changes, loan types and repayment plans, as well as vocabulary explanations such as deferment, loan consolidation and forbearance.
“We need to find a way to help you manage your student loan debt,” Davenport said. “And that’s a national conversation right now.”
Davenport also said there is a proposal out right now that proposes a student loan repayment plan in which an employer could draw your student loan payment directly out of your paycheck, like social security and healthcare.
“If you think about it, student loans have become a fact of life,” Davenport said. “Just like taxes.”
The reality is that most students have student loan debt — about 65 percent on our campus, Davenport said, with an average debt of $26,000.
The next student loan workshop will take place at 3:30 p.m. May 6 and is expected to last less than an hour.
Alycia Rock can be reached at [email protected]
