Student Loan Payments in One State Are About to Change

Some residents in Georgia are likely to earn student debt relief after the Georgia House gave its stamp of approval for Senate Bill 480.

The new legislation offers financial support to help mental health and substance use counselors pay off their student loans under the Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce. The money would be available to everyone working in underserved Georgia areas or treating underserved youth.

Georgia first proposed the law hoping to recruit and keep workers in the mental health space as the state experiences an uptick in overdose deaths.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), overdose deaths in the state rose at least 38 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic, and problems have persisted in the aftermath of that time of social isolation.

“One of the problems that we’re having in our state in getting more care to people who have mental health issues is we…don’t have the people to take care of them,” Republican state Representative Sharon Cooper told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Democrats were also in favor of the law, with Rep. Ruwa Romman saying the bill supports those who earn advanced degrees to work in mental health but then struggle to pay their loans back.

“An organization simply cannot afford to increase pay even if they want to,” Romman said. “Programs like this allow them to provide a benefit that is as close to payment as possible.”

To qualify, a recipient must be a legal resident of Georgia and have student loan debt not in default.

Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the state of Tennessee, said the program reflects one of the most beneficial approaches to student loan forgiveness that individual states can implement.

“If there was one career field in our current health landscape that most needed a student loan forgiveness plan, this would be the one,” Beene told Newsweek. “Mental health has become one of the most difficult topics to both discuss and educate with youth in schools. This proposal would allow mental health professionals that provide services to underserved areas, particularly among youth, the opportunity to see their loans repaid over time.”

Other states might take up similar initiatives as the federal government looks to offer repayment options, as well.

“It’s a win-win for the state, the loan holder and the community around them,” Beene said.

National Student Debt Relief

Even outside Georgia, student loan borrowers have several federal options that might help them reduce or pay off their debt.

For one, President Joe Biden passed his new income-driven repayment plan, Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE), which means at least 7.5 million Americans could get lower payments.

SAVE lets borrowers earn a higher income exemption before loan repayment starts. For many, that will lead to no payment each month. For those who still have to pay, the amount will be based on only 10 percent of each borrower’s discretionary income.

Biden also approved $5 billion more in forgiveness to those who have worked 10 years or more in public service and people repaying their loans for at least 20 years who haven’t been able to get help through income-based plans.

That means an extra 74,000 more borrowers will see relief after Biden’s original plan was cut down by the U.S. Supreme Court last June.

“From day one of my administration, I vowed to improve the student loan system so that a higher education provides Americans with opportunity and prosperity—not unmanageable burdens of student loan debt,” Biden previously said in a statement. “I won’t back down from using every tool at our disposal to get student loan borrowers the relief they need to reach their dreams.”