How I tamed my family’s student debt
By Sue Davies
When my kids wanted to go to college, there was no way we could pay for it without student loans. They started school in 2009 and 2011, when the economy was crashing. We hadn’t saved any money because my husband had been self-employed and I was working part time as an art teacher, raising the children. On top of that, my husband, who is now a nurse, went back to school himself.
The children didn’t qualify for federal student loans so I took out Parent PLUS loans for all three of them. I’m proud to say two have graduated and are pursuing careers in music and art, and the third just finished a degree in city management. But the loans I took out for them started accruing interest from the day we took them out. And that student debt just got really, really huge.
To make the payments every month, I cut back the time I spent creating my own art and increased my hours as a public school teacher. Eventually I was working full time, and my art really took a dive. Keeping up with our student debt situation seemed impossible. It was so hard to figure out the system — until I heard about Summer, an organization that helps borrowers with repayment and forgiveness options. As an AFT member, access to Summer is free as a member benefit.
Keeping up with our student debt situation seemed impossible. It was so hard to figure out the system.
If I didn’t have Summer’s help I don’t know what I would have done. Even with help from the people there — who I got to know pretty well — it took months to untangle old loans, my husband’s loans, and the Parent PLUS loans. But they made it manageable.
Summer looked at our income and determined how much we could afford to pay, then helped us apply for an income-based repayment plan. They helped us understand the big picture, led us through applying for the best program for our family, and even got on a conference call with us and our loan service providers to keep things moving in the right direction.
Before we connected with Summer, we’d been dealing with loan servicers who did not understand our situation, with multiple loans and multiple people involved. Sometimes, after 20 minutes or more — on and off hold, through complicated conversations — the phone line would just disconnect, and I am convinced this was intentional. With Summer on the line that never happened, and Summer staff experts filled in where loan servicers were lacking.
If I didn’t have Summer’s help I don’t know what I would have done. They made our student debt manageable.
In the end, Summer helped us cut our monthly loan payment by $700, from about $2,300 a month to $1,600. And because my husband is a nurse, he will qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, so if we keep making payments on his loans for 10 years, that debt should be forgiven.
As a parent, I want what’s best for my children. I took on those Parent PLUS loans so they could pursue work that inspires them, work that allows them to apply their creative gifts. I didn’t want to pressure them to do what they hate just to pay their student loans.
I didn’t want to pressure my children to do what they hate just to pay their student loans.
With the family loans under control now, the kids are building the careers they’ve chosen for themselves, and with manageable loan payments, I’ve actually been able to retire and return to painting. Before the coronavirus shut everything down, I shared studio space with other artists and taught on the side, but still had plenty of time to pursue my own passion. I can’t wait to get back to that life, and meanwhile I’m creating art at home.
Summer was a ray of hope for us when we were feeling completely overwhelmed by our family’s student debt. I never would have been able to get here without their help.
Sue Davies is a professional artist, a retired art teacher in Buffalo, Minn., and a member of the Elk River Education Association in Minnesota. If you’d like to join Sue in tackling your student debt, sign up for the AFT member benefit Summer today. Want to read more stories like this? Subscribe to AFT e-newsletters.
