Webinar May 19: Drop Your Debt

Free Zoom Hour on Federal Loan Forgiveness

5:30 p.m. Thursday, May 19, via Zoom

Many public service employees — you bet that includes staff and faculty of public universities and teachers and staff of public schools — are eligible for forgiveness of our federal student loan debts. But there are hoops — it is complicated!

We are hosting a free webinar on a free program of the National Education Association that eases the way through the loan forgiveness process 5:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 19, 2022. You do not need to be an NEA member to livestream the forum. Everyone is welcome!

Renee Johnson, UniServ representative for the Arkansas Education Association, will lead the Zoom session for UA-Fayetteville Education Association / Local 965 and other NEA locals including Fayetteville Education Association, Bentonville Education Association, Springdale Education Association, Rogers Education Association, and smaller AEA chapters such as Huntsville’s and Mountain Home’s.

Easing the burden of student loans — even out-and-out debt forgiveness — is available right now to all of us working in public education.

Leading among NEA member benefits is the NEA Student Debt Navigator neamb.com/Savi, powered by Savi Solutions, which helps members better manage all types of student loans. The chief feature is Savi’s team of financial experts standing by for personal, one-on-one consultations with NEA members.

The ideal option of course is ending one’s debt with loan forgiveness. If you are an educator or other public-service worker repaying a federal student loan, several programs are available, depending on the type of loan and one’s current status. Savi can help with various student loans; many are eligible for refinancing, deferment or consolidation. Besides U of A faculty from tenured professors through instructors, the program is available to staff who are or become 965 members.

Last October, U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona modified the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, following an email campaign of tens of thousands of messages from NEA members. (The Trump administraton had denied 98 percent of the applications.) Deadline warning: The Cardona waiver ends Oct. 31, 2022.

The NEA Student Debt Navigator is a subscription program where the first year of service is free to us NEA union members, if they sign up by October 2022. Besides online software including a calculator, the subscription includes electronic form filing, cloud storage for documents, and personal phone or chat assistance from Savi’s debt experts. Savi also shares its tools and advice with NEA members who hold non-federal loans.

Wait: Doesn’t union membership mean monthly dues? Yup, but consider:

Those monthly loan coupons	Your money’s worth: NEA, AEA and Local 965
Remaining loan balances in the $$ thousands	Annual dues: ~$300 from staffers to $615 from tenured profs
How many years remaining to take balance to zero	Savor other NEA benefits — but our real deal: Returning our power back to us!

We’ve gathered other information on the NEA/Savi program at “Student Loan Forgiveness — A New U of A Labor Union Perk” that answers more questions.

We are asking UA employees — especially non-members — to complete this 2-minute survey. The data gathered inform AEA and NEA to further build higher education resources in Arkansas.