We understand that you may be receiving conflicting information regarding forgiveness of commercially held FFELP loans. ED is assessing whether there are alternative ways to provide relief to borrowers with FFELP loans serviced by AES. As soon as we learn more about eligibility, we will update this page. You may also visit One-Time Student Loan Debt Relief or sign up for email updates at Subscriptions | U.S. Department of Education.

Yes. It has not yet been determined if FFELP loans serviced by AES are eligible based on this forgiveness announcement. If you are having trouble making payments, visit aesSuccess.org/troublepaying for information on options. If you do not make payments or take action to postpone payments, this will result in delinquency and related consequences, including negative credit reporting, late fees, and additional interest accrual.

The CARES Act, a federal law that was signed into law on March 27, 2020, suspends payment obligation and sets the interest rate to zero, but only applies to federal student loans held by ED. Because your FFELP loans are not held by ED, the CARES Act benefits, including the extension of such benefits, do not apply. For more information on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) options, visit StudentAid.gov.

According to ED’s website, as of November 22, 2022, the student loan payment pause is extended until ED is permitted to implement the debt relief program, or the litigation is resolved. Payments will restart 60 days later. If the debt relief program has not been implemented and the litigation has not been resolved by June 30, 2023 — payments will resume 60 days after that.

Since the CARES Act payment suspension has been in effect since March 2020, borrowers with loans held by ED can request a refund for any payments they may have made during this time because these payments were not required. However, the CARES Act payment suspension does not apply to your FFELP loans serviced by AES and ED’s refund policy also does not apply.

AES is not currently processing refund requests for required payments that were made on FFELP loans, unless you are currently in a paid ahead status, to prevent potential negative consequences that may result from such refunds, including delinquency, negative credit reporting, use of forbearance, and additional interest accrual and capitalization.

Unfortunately, we cannot issue refunds on your zero-balance loans.

On October 25, 2022, ED provided updates on the Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) one-time adjustment opportunity and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).

If you wish to benefit from the changes related to IDR, you must consolidate your loans into a Direct Consolidation loan by May 1, 2023. The changes are expected to be implemented in July 2023. For additional information, visit StudentAid.gov. In addition, the limited PSLF waiver ended on October 31, 2022; however, ED announced on October 25, 2022 that all the qualifying periods under the IDR one-time adjustments will also count toward PSLF provided the borrower has qualifying employment during those periods.

No. Private education loans are not eligible for debt relief. If you refinanced federal loans into a private education loan, the refinanced private education loan is not eligible for debt relief.

Your loans with AES may become eligible for PSLF, CARES Act benefits, and the IDR one-time account adjustment if they are consolidated into the Direct Loan Program. To complete a Direct Loan consolidation, please visit StudentAid.gov/app/launchConsolidation.action

If you wish to benefit from the changes related to IDR, you must consolidate your loans into a Direct Consolidation Loan by May 1, 2023. The changes are expected to be implemented in July 2023. For additional information, visit StudentAid.gov. In addition, the limited PSLF waiver ended on October 31, 2022; however, ED announced on October 25, 2022, that all the qualifying periods under the IDR one-time adjustments will also count toward PSLF, provided the borrower has qualifying employment during those periods.

According to ED’s website as of November 22, 2022, the student loan payment pause is extended until ED is permitted to implement the debt relief program, or the litigation is resolved. Payments will restart 60 days later. If the debt relief program has not been implemented and the litigation has not been resolved by June 30, 2023 — payments will resume 60 days after that.

To determine if you have a Pell Grant, you should log in to the Federal Student Aid (FSA) website at StudentAid.gov with your FSA ID and password, and the information will be available to you in your FSA account. If you received a Pell Grant before 1994, that information will not display on your FSA account, but you will still receive the benefit if you are eligible.

When the announcement regarding student loan debt cancellation was made in August by the White House, there was no immediate deadline regarding the consolidation of commercially held FFELP loans into Direct Loans for the purpose of qualifying for this loan cancellation benefit. AES did not have any previous knowledge of the September 29, 2022 deadline, and we learned of this requirement change when it was updated on StudentAid.gov and in other public forums.

ED has indicated it is assessing whether there are alternative pathways to provide relief to borrowers with federal student loans not held by ED, including FFELP loans and Perkins loans.