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Financial Aid News

The latest news, information and updates.

Financial Aid News

2024-2025 FAFSA

The 24-25 FAFSA will introduce the most changes to the application in over 40 years. Due to that, we highly recommend reviewing our 24-25 FAFSA Simplification webpage to familiarize yourself with these changes. In addition to this, we recommend using the free Federal Student Aid Estimator as soon as possible. This tool will give you an idea of what financial aid you may be eligible for in 24-25. 


Loan Repayment to Resume Fall 2023

Congress recently passed a law preventing further extensions of the payment pause. This means that interest on any outstanding federal student loans will resume accruing on September 1st, 2023, and payments will be due starting in October 2023. Borrowers will be notified through their federal loan servicer when their first payment is due.


Loan Repayment Simulator 

The Federal Student Aid "Loan Simulator" helps you calculate your student loan payments and choose a loan repayment option that best meets your needs and goals. This tool can also be used to help you decide if you need to consolidate your student loans. We highly encourage all alumni and former students who are about to begin repaying their student loans again to use this tool. 


Avoiding Student Loan Repayment Fraud and Scams

With student loan repayment set to resume, there has been an increase in student loan fraud and scams. The U.S. Department of Education (ED) offers some legitimate student loan forgiveness programs and ways to lower your student loan payments - all free to apply for through your official loan servicer. According to ED, "If a debt relief offer from a private company seems too good to be true, it probably is. Don't pay for help when you can get it for free!"

Here are three red flags to be on the lookout for:

  1. You're asked to pay an upfront cost or monthly fees.
    • There is nothing a student loan debt relief company can do that you can't do yourself, especially with the help of your loan servicer.
  2. You're promised immediate loan forgiveness.
    • No one can promise immediate and total student loan forgiveness.
  3. You're asked to provide your FSA ID password.
    1. Neither ED nor your loan servicer will ask for your FSA ID.

If you think you have been scammed already, here are some options to consider:


Income Drive Repayment (IDR) Plan Student Loan Forgiveness

The Department of Education (ED) announced that it will forgive $39 billion in federal student loan debt to over 800,000 eligible borrowers enrolled in IDR plans. Borrowers were eligible for loan forgiveness after completing 20 or 25 years of monthly payments through an approved IDR plan. Borrowers will be notified in the next couple of days and their loans will get discharged within the next few weeks. These loan discharges are the result of a number of "fixes" implemented by the Biden-Harris Administration to ensure all borrowers have an accurate count of the number of monthly payments that qualify toward forgiveness under these IDR plans. This is a continuation from the payment count adjustment announced in April 2022.

Borrowers receiving notifications in the coming days include those with Direct Loans or Federal Family Education Loans held by the Department (including Parent PLUS loans of either type) who have reached the necessary forgiveness threshold as a result of receiving credit toward IDR forgiveness for any of the following periods:

  • Any month in which a borrower was in a repayment status, regardless of whether payments were partial or late, the type of loan, or the repayment plan;
  • Any period in which a borrower spent 12 or more consecutive months in forbearance;
  • Any month in forbearance for borrowers who spent 36 or more cumulative months in forbearance; 
  • Any month spent in deferment (except for in-school deferment) prior to 2013; and
  • Any month spent in economic hardship or military deferments on or after January 1, 2013.

In addition, months described above that occurred prior to a loan consolidation will also be counted toward forgiveness.


Supreme Court Prohibits One-Time Federal Student Loan Debt Relief

On Friday, June 30, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States of America (SCOTUS) ruled against the Biden-Harris One-Time Debt Relief Program, disallowing student loan forgiveness through the program. The SCOTUS rulings on student loan forgiveness are below:

Department of Education et al. v. Brown et al. 

Department of Education et al. v. Nebraska et al. 


Fostering Independence Tuition Waiver Program

On June 28, 2019, Pennsylvania passed a law to remove barriers in accessing a postsecondary education for youth who are or have been in foster care. Click here for more information. 

Financial Aid Information & Updates

Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund Reports

Quarterly reporting on Higher Education Emergency Relief Funding (HEERF I, II, & III) is required to be published on the Dickinson College website. You can find all quarterly reports below. Funding was fully distributed at the time of the September 30, 2021 report.

HEERF I Reports

HEERF II Reports

HEERF III Reports 

GRE Fee Reduction

Thinking about taking the GRE (Graduate Record Exam)?  You may be eligible for a GRE fee reduction.   For more information about the fee reduction program, please visit the GRE website, or contact GRE Institutional Services at 609-771-7092.