Under the Higher Education Act of 1965, the American Dental Association and American Student Dental Association are urging Congress to address the following issues when reauthorizing federal graduate student loan programs:
• lower the interest rates on federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans, as well as the total amount of interest that can accrue on federal graduate student loans;
• reinstate eligibility for graduate and professional degree students to use federal Direct Subsidized Stafford Loans to finance their graduate education;
• permit federal graduate student loans to be refinanced more than once to take advantage of lower interest rates and better economic conditions;
• extend the period of deferment for repaying federal graduate student loans to the maximum extent practicable;
• simplify and add more transparency to the federal graduate student loan application process; [and]
• remove the barriers that prohibit those with private graduate student loans from taking advantage of federal student loan forgiveness/service payback programs. (7)
When I became the chair of CMMS in 2015, I decided that addressing student debt would be my first goal. I started by speaking with banks and asking them about lending money to dentists. As it turns out, the banks consistently told me that dentists were their second safest investment—second only to undertakers! I then started familiarizing myself with government agencies and consolidation programs. As a part-time faculty member at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry, I was able to talk to students and residents who were currently facing this debt burden to get their input, as well.
My goal was to find a repayment program that would reduce student debt by offering refinancing at a lower rate and that would have options for both federal and private student loan consolidation. I wasn’t only looking for the lowest refinancing rates; I wanted to be able to speak to a real person, either on the phone or in person. I needed to find a company that could review an individual’s finances and help that individual decide whether to consolidate, refinance, or do nothing.
I had confidence in a company that actually told some applicants not to change anything if the applicants were already in a good position. This spoke volumes to me because honesty, trust, and ethics were of utmost importance in my search. Here’s a quote from one company I researched:
Refinancing your student loans sounds great. But it’s not for everyone. Consolidating student loans via refinancing is best for people whose financial position—in terms of employment, cash flow, and credit—has improved since they graduated from school. People who are working in the public sector or taking advantage of federal debt relief programs, such as income-based repayment or public service forgiveness, may not want to refinance, as these programs do not transfer to private refinance loans. (8)
I also wanted a company that offered other services, such as career strategy advice services, office loans, mortgage loans, and insurance and wealth management services. And most importantly, I wanted to find a company that would offer customer support seven days a week.
After a comprehensive search, the AAPD partnered with Social Financial Inc., also known as SoFi. We have had our members enjoy great success, as demonstrated by the following statistics:
434 starts | $102 million |
245 submits | $56.7 million |
96 funded | $21 million |
These results are only from the initial two years of our relationship with SoFi. Already, $21 million has been funded with many other potential starts in the works. When considering how to conquer your student debt, do your research. It seems, from these numbers, that this is “paying” off for our younger members. That is what the AAPD wants for its members, and this benefit is just one of many that we offer.
Author’s note: To learn about other AAPD membership benefits, visit aapd.org.
References
1. The issues: Dental student debt. American Student Dental Association website. http://www.asdanet.org/debt.aspx.
2. Woolley S. Are young Americans ashamed of their debt? Bloomberg website. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-07/40-of-millennials-prefer-to-tell-a-date-about-an-std-than-debt. Published February 7, 2017.
3. Cost vs. reward of a dental school education. Doctorly.org website. http://doctorly.org/cost-vs-reward-of-a-dental-school-education.
4. Kahn C. What is the ROI of your college degree? Bankrate website. http://www.bankrate.com/finance/college-finance/roi-college-degree.aspx. Updated June 15, 2015.
5. Asch DA, Nicholson S, Vujicic M. Are we in a medical education bubble market? N Engl J Med. 2013;369(21):1973-1975. http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMp1310778.
6. Dentist overview. U.S. News & World Report website. http://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/dentist. Published January 11, 2017.
7. American Dental Association and American Student Dental Association. Student Loan Programs under the Higher Education Act. Washington, DC: American Dental Association; 2017.
8. Consolidate vs. refinance. SoFi website. http://www.sofi.com/consolidate-student-loans-vs-refinance.
Shari C. Kohn, DDS, is a board-certified pediatric dentist in private practice in Hunt Valley, Maryland. She is a faculty member at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry and a past president of the Maryland Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. Dr. Kohn has sat on the AAPD board of trustees and is currently on the board of trustees for Healthy Smiles, Healthy Children. Dr. Kohn and her husband, Tom, have two grown children.
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