How Does Student Loan Forgiveness Affect Your Credit Score? in 2024

Do you want to know how student loan forgiveness affect your credit score? if yes, continue reading to know more.

Lenders take into account your current financial responsibilities, which can make it more difficult for people with student debt to start a business or buy a home.

Many people may now find themselves with a more positive balance sheet and perhaps a raised credit score as a result of President Joe Biden’s announcement that he plans to cancel up to $20,000 in student loan debt for millions of debtors.

In late August, Biden stated that most people who have federal student loans will be eligible for some forgiveness, up to $20,000 if they received a Pell Grant, a sort of financial help offered to low-income undergraduate students, and up to $10,000 otherwise.

In the meantime, more recent adjustments for student loan borrowers, such as a second chance for those who have defaulted on their loans, may put them in an even better financial position.

The Education Department estimates that the plan will have an impact on 43 million Americans, including about 20 million borrowers who will have their whole loan balances forgiven.

Although this is undoubtedly good news for the borrowers, modifications to their student loans may also result in adjustments to their credit ratings, maybe even a temporary reduction.

For the majority of people, the effect is probably not significant, but it will depend on the specific circumstances.

What it all can entail for your credit is given below.

Don’t expect a ‘huge’ effect on your credit score

According to Ted Rossman, a senior industry analyst at CreditCards.com, student loan forgiveness will probably have just a minor effect on your credit score.

Rossman remarked, “I don’t think it will be huge.

Because student loans are “installment loans,” which are loans you repay over a specific time period with regular installments, this is the case.

According to him, those don’t have a significant impact on your credit usage rate, which measures how much of your available credit you use.

Up to 30% of your score may be accounted for by your use rate.

Even so, a higher score can enable you to negotiate better rates with other lenders.

Check out also: How to Apply for Student Loan Forgiveness in Michigan | Review

Less debt may help you qualify to borrow more

Your “debt-to-income ratio,” or the percentage of your monthly income that is utilized to pay your existing debts, will be better if you have less student loan debt.

When determining how much to lend you, lenders consider this ratio.

Some people follow a regulation known as the 28/36 rule, which states that no more than 28% of your gross monthly income can be spent on housing expenses and no more than 36% on total indebtedness.

(Some mortgage lenders have caps that are much higher.)

This percentage could be decreased by the forgiveness that lowers or even eliminates your monthly student loan payments, “perhaps helping you qualify for a higher mortgage, car loan, or credit card limit,” according to Rossman.

Check also: How to Make Money from Student Loan Stocks

Credit report changes could take months after applying

According to current estimates from the U.S. Department of Education, borrowers could experience relief within six weeks after the application for loan cancellation becomes available in early October.

Within around three months, borrowers may anticipate seeing their reduced or eliminated debt on their credit reports, according to Rossman.

He advises you to frequently check your report for free at AnnualCreditReport.com to ensure that Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, the three credit reporting agencies, are accurately reflecting your balance.

Up until the end of 2022, you can check your credit report for free every week.

A record of your debt reduction from your student loan servicer should be saved in case you require it as proof.

Check out also: Alaska Student Loan And Financial Aid Programs | All You Need to Know

Borrowers in default have a chance to clear their record

Additionally, the Education Department recently declared that it would assist about 7 million student loan borrowers in getting out of default.

According to higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz, once the so-called “Fresh Start” program is launched, borrowers will begin by selecting a repayment plan via MyEdDebt.Ed.Gov or by phoning the Education Department’s Default Resolution Group

The servicer for defaulted federal student loans, Maximus, should then transfer your loans to a new servicer.

According to Kantrowitz, the default should be automatically erased from your record if you switch services and sign up for a payment plan.

The chance is transient. After the COVID-19 suspension of payments expires, borrowers will have a year to switch to a new repayment arrangement. The current deadline for that is December 31.

New payment plans could help borrowers’ credit, too

Along with President Joe Biden’s announcement of student loan forgiveness last week, he said the Department of Education will offer student loan borrowers a new income-based repayment plan that can cut their monthly bills in half.

According to the White House, the plan could save him more than $1,000 in average annual student loan payments.

Kantrowitz said this could have a “significant impact on mortgage underwriting.”

This is because other monthly financial obligations are a big consideration for lenders.

This plan is not yet available to borrowers, but they should still check for renewals.

You can also reduce or eliminate your monthly student loan payments to meet other financial goals, Rothman said.

“If you have less debt, you will pay off your credit card debt more, saving more and investing more,” he said.

Your credit mix will change

If you’re one of the 20 million borrowers whose student loans will be wiped out thanks to Biden’s plan, your credit score may drop a bit, at least in the short term.

This is because student loans contribute to the so-called credit mix.

Credit mix refers to various types of credit, from revolving payments like credit cards to installment payments like student loans, car loans, and mortgages.

The lender wants to show different types of loans and if he removes one type from his profile it could negatively affect his score.

Credit mix is only 10% of his FICO score, a kind of credit score that lenders use to assess creditworthiness (VantageScore is another important score of his that lenders use).

The drop in score due to changes in the loan mix should be minimal and won’t make or break securing a new loan in the future.

If you plan to raise money, you should consider that your credit score may drop slightly.

Your credit history could get shorter

A change in the average age of your credit accounts is the other factor that could affect your score.

Since most Americans take out student loans while they are still teenagers, they are frequently among the oldest loans that Americans have.

Since lenders tend to favor consumers with longer credit histories, closing those old debts could hurt your credit score.

15% of your FICO score is determined by the duration of your credit history.

The good news is that your credit score can soon recover if you continue making your other loan payments on schedule, and it’s likely that the short-term drop in your score won’t outweigh the advantages of paying off the debt.

Check also: Georgia Student Access Loan (SAL) | Georgia Student Finance Commission

Your credit score might rise

For certain individuals, student loan forgiveness can even result in an increase in credit score.

This is due to the fact that paying off up to $20,000 in debt might significantly lower your overall loan load, which accounts for 30% of your FICO score.

A lower debt load helps raise credit score, but there are other considerations as well.

Your total credit utilization, or how much of your available revolving credit you are utilizing overall at any given time, is another factor that FICO takes into account.

Credit card debt is included in your credit utilization ratio, while installment debt, such as school loans, is not.

FAQS

Will the cancellation of my student loans raise my credit score?

Ratio of Debt to Income. Student loan forgiveness has a mixed effect on credit. In fact, getting thousands of dollars in debt forgiven can boost your score as well, increasing the likelihood that you’ll subsequently be accepted for further credit or loans.

What effects does a loan forgiveness have on your credit?

According to Lynch, credit ratings for borrowers who have made on-time payments and whose debt forgiveness covers the whole amount of their debts could be somewhat raised. On the other hand, under older FICO models that are still in use, a credit score could decrease if a loan was in default when it was canceled.

Conclusion

In the end, paying off a sizable portion of your student loan debt is well worth the marginal and transient effects on your credit score.

“For those that qualify, it’s nice. However, I don’t believe that will cause a quick, significant change in either your score’s up or down.

And it’ll probably all even out in the following three to six months.

The key to having excellent credit is developing healthy credit habits over an extended period of time.

You may improve and keep outstanding credit by making on time, completing payments on your account balances each month, and refraining from overspending.

How Does Student Loan Forgiveness Affect Your Credit Score?