James S: “$30 is worth it to have that whole [student loan] realm navigated”

James is a High School Science Teacher in Lisbon, Maine where most of his debt comes from his graduate program, like many other teachers. He took advantage of Teach For America (TFA) and their opportunities, noting many use TFA as a way to get a masters degree paid for, but he used it to pay off some of his debt.

“Up until recently, that large chunk of the $11,000 out of $25,000 that I owed came from my time at TFA. It has basically been feeding my loans for the past 5 years or so. It isn’t until this pause is over that I haven’t had to make payments. I’ve even been paying interest as it accrued.”

With the expectation of payments restarting and varying stories of how successful Teacher Loan Forgiveness (TLF) is, James decided to use Savi through NEA Member Benefits.

“I decided, ‘yeah for $30 it’s worth it to have that whole realm navigated.’ It’s hard hopping schools and calling a principal from 3 years ago to confirm paperwork. That process of trying to do it on my own was really difficult.”

James had spent 1 year teaching in Maine, 2 in Chicago, 2 back in Maine and then 5 years at a Title I school.

“But now, I have professionals doing that and thinking about an hourly rate of having someone do that in comparison to what I’m getting for $30 is beyond reasonable.”

James is now on a path through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program with less than two years remaining.

James explains often to other colleagues how there are many programs out there that people aren’t aware of and spending a few dollars to have someone help find them for you can help his generation significantly.

“We’ve been held back from usual life goals of owning a house or car or taking a position or risks you want to or living in the city you love. Loans just kill that drive. I really think that getting more forgiveness programs out there is going to be a huge boom to my generation if they can get more and more money forgiven.”

“You guys [Savi] are so effective and are able to send an email to clarify things very quickly and get back whenever I have a question. The first thing I did was log onto Facebook and Twitter and said `if you’re out there as a teacher with loans, you need to sign up for this.”’

Educators that are members of the National Education Association (NEA) can also take advantage of Savi as a member benefit available to them by NEA Member Benefits at neamb.com/savi.