Nearly 1 million people woke up to a great surprise thanks to the U.S. Department of Education.
USA Today reported that 804,000 people had their outstanding student loan balances wiped out after the Department identified a miscalculation of their number of loan payments over two decades.
One of the borrowers was Katrina Mosler, who took out loans to complete her college education which dates back to 1995. She later wound up dropping out, but still owed. Mosler told the outlet that her $27,000 debt hung over her life.
“Now, as one of the 804,000 whose debts have been erased, there’s room to think about saving for a down payment on a house, instead of the rental surrounded by redwoods, and bears, where she lives with her husband,” the outlet wrote.
“When you drop out, there’s no guidance,” she told the outlet. “I was 20 and struggling and just pretty aimless.”
She in one of the millions living in debt because of high student loans payments, an issue that now sits in the trillions of dollars.
As ESSENCE previously reported, the average borrower took out $28,950.What’s more, the average student loan payment is $460 per month, and it usually takes the average borrower about 20 years to pay off their debts. There’s hope, fortunately. As ESSENCE previously pointed out, through the CARES Act, Americans were given immediate aid to offset the economic hardship caused by the pandemic. This looked like stimulus checks, grants for businesses and student debt assistance. Although it may little known, within the act, it state that employers are to make up to $5,250 in tax-free annual payments directly to their employees’ federal student loans.