BOISE, Idaho — After a three and a half year pause, student loan repayments are scheduled to resume in October.
Over 200,000 Idahoans have student loan debt and the average debt is over $43,000.
However, the federal government is offering some relief programs. The SAVE repayment plan is an income-driven plan that calculates a monthly payment based on one's salary and family size.
Ahead of the repayment, Idaho News 6 spoke with students at Boise State about their loan experience.
Sofia Dueñas is a junior at Boise State, but she is new to campus. She spent her first two years of school at the College of Idaho in Caldwell.
Coming to Boise State, she's had to take out private loans. With her parents agreeing to cosign, Dueñas consented to make payments on the loans while she was in school.
“I’m the first one in my family actually to go to college, so we don’t really understand the effects of having loans after school," Dueñas said. "So we kinda want to wrap that up as soon as possible and make those interest payments low.”
She now works a part-time job while going to school to afford the payments. As a commuter, she says the majority of her money goes to gas and student loan payments.
At the College of Idaho, Dueñas said she was really involved in extracurricular activities. She says she has had to stop that because she doesn't have enough extra time.
“I feel like it makes it really hard to stay motivated because when you’re in extracurricular activities you have a community on campus," Dueñas said.
Some people are more fortunate, having no loans.
Sophomore Aaron Panepinto chose Boise State because of its less expensive price tag, relative to other schools. Panepinto made the choice to move across the country from Pennsylvania, partly, for that reason.
“Looking at Penn State, in-state tuition for Penn State would’ve been way more expensive than the out-of-state tuition here," Panepinto said. He says having no loans was his goal, and he's happy he won't be in debt after he graduates.
Even with a government shutdown looming, the Education Department has confirmed payments are going to start up no matter what.
