Michelle McBain is the Family Engagement Manager at the CRC. She has been with CEO for 13 years. She received her Undergrad degree from Saint Rose, and her Master’s degree from SUNY Albany. We interviewed her about her recent approval in the Public Student Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF).

When did you first become aware of the student loan forgiveness program?
“I heard about it when I started repaying my loans.
I applied two years ago when I had completed the required ten years of payments and was initially rejected because I wasn’t on the right repayment plan. Then I saw something on 60 Minutes about military folks who had similar experiences. They said that the government had only forgiven 1,500 student loans for the past decade or so the program was in existence. After that there was a re-evaluation of the program.
The next email I got in September was congratulating me that my loans had been forgiven!”

What kind of loans did you have?
“Federal loans, that I had consolidated at some point.”

What was it like to get the acceptance email?
“I was excited when I first applied because I knew I had my ten years of repayment in. When I got the follow up email, I didn’t believe it at first, but then I checked my student loan account and saw that the balance was zero. It meant so much, because at the time, I owed more on my student loans than I did on my house. $43,000 is a lot of money.
It was truly life changing. I thought I’d be paying them until I died.”

Employees of not-for-profit organizations may be eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.
For more information about pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) with your student loans, please head over to this studentaid.gov webpage:

https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service