Port Charlotte woman’s student loans forgiveness after consolidation

One Port Charlotte woman was skeptical of her student loan consolidation and potential forgiveness, but an email over the weekend changed her life.

After decades of monthly payments, Laurie Winter is free from student loan debt. She got an email from the US Department of Education announcing her federal Direct Consolidation Loans were forgiven.

“I was in the middle of the party, and I was like, ‘No way! This is crazy!'” Winter recalled.

WINK News first told viewers about Winter’s student loan issues at the end of April. She took out about $45,000 in Federal Family Education Program Loans, or FFEL loans, so she could go to Florida State University in the early 2000s. FFEL loans are no longer available, but most pre-existing ones are held by private companies, not the federal government.

“I applied for the student loans on my own. I also got some Pell grants,” Winter said in the story that aired in April. “I was the first person to go to college in my family. So I kind of just went out and did it on my own.”

The US DOE told WINK News Consumer Reporter Andryanna Sheppard in order for Winter to qualify for any student loan forgiveness or income driven repayment plans, Winter needed to consolidate her loans with them. But after the Supreme Court struck down the Biden Administration’s loan plan for federal borrowers last June, Winter felt misled. The life of her loan was extended and her almost $15,000 bill ballooned to about $22,000. That’s about an extra $6,000 in interest.

“I think it’s real convenient that all of us had to refinance our loans with the Department of Education. It makes sense if that’s where the funds were coming from. But now we did all of that and there’s no funds coming from them. So it just seems like everyone refinanced their loans with the government, which seems shady,” Winter said in the April story.

But because she consolidated and made 20 to 25 years’ worth of payments, that debt is gone.

You were the first person I texted. I couldn’t believe it. It was a little bit surreal and I was very excited. Winter to Sheppard

“The last time we spoke, you described this particular consolidation process as ‘shady.’ Do you feel the same now?” Sheppard asked.

“I went through the process, and at first, it definitely looked like it did not play in my favor,” Winter replied. “I maybe had to pay that for a couple years until it finally did, but I made the second round of forgiveness, and I’m very grateful.”

Now she hopes her story brings hope to everyone chipping away at their student loan debt and that it shines more light on the student debt crisis.

“Hopefully, there will be some reform,” Winter added. “to show them that this is not the path forward.”

So if her children choose the college route, they won’t be saddled with debt like she was.

The Biden Administration’s new student loan relief plan includes wiping away up to $20,000 in interest for those who owe more than the original loan was worth. The plan would also wipe away debt for people who have been paying undergrad loans for 20 years or more or grad student loans over the last 25 years. It also applies to those already eligible for loan forgiveness and for borrowers who can prove financial hardships prevent them from repaying their loans.