Katie Gamelin Crowley, Director of Alumni Relations for CUA Law, moderated the discussion.
Experts Walk Alums and Students through Loan
Repayment Options and Financial Managment Tips
Four experts in ways to manage personal finances and repay student loan debt spoke to Columbus School of Law students on Feb. 25, offering advice, tips, encouragement, and reassurance.
Sponsored by the CUA Law Alumni Association, the hour-long panel presentation explained different repayment plans for various federal loan programs, and shed light on such options as Income Based Repayment (IBR), Pay as You Earn, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and private sector refinance options, as well as recent and proposed legislative changes to loan programs. Presenters included David Schrock, director of financial aid, Columbus School of Law; Jack Zoeller, chairman and chief executive officer, Bank of Virginia; Brian Attridge, vice president of student lending, Bank of Virginia; and J. Parker Griffin, a 2008 CUA Law alumnus and financial advisor with Morgan Stanley. Student loan debt in America currently totals about $1.3 trillion, more than all of the nation's car payments and credit card debt combined. The daunting level of debt borne by many families for education has prompted the government, which holds 92% of all such loans, to produce new and more flexible plans for repayment.
Among other topics, Schrock covered the specifics of the increasingly popular Public Service Loan Forgiveness option, which discharges remaining student debt after ten years if a student has worked in a public service job and made monthly payments during that decade. The two representatives from the Bank of Virginia introduced the audience to CordiaGrad, a program that permits borrowers of students loans to refinance their debt using a private consolidation loan with more favorable terms. As a professional financial advisor, Parker Griffin did not endorse specific repayment plans but spoke in general terms about the critical importance of smart saving, investing, and spending, while establishing those patterns early in life. The panel left plenty of time for Q &A. The event was preceded by an informal reception.