Everything You Need to Know About Public Service Loan Forgiveness
Mar
20
1:00 PM13:00

Everything You Need to Know About Public Service Loan Forgiveness

Thousands of student loan borrowers are qualifying to have the remainder of their federal loan balance forgiven through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program. The key to receiving this benefit is understanding the specific requirements that must be met to qualify. During this session, we will share details of the program including temporary account adjustments happening now, how to apply, and actions to take to remain on track toward forgiveness eligibility. Our goal is to build awareness of the PSLF Program and share valuable resources to help borrowers achieve their goals. 

You can register here: https://lu.ma/PSLF

About the Presenter:

Hannah Achtor

Hannah has more than twenty years of experience in learning and development, team management, and student loan industry training. She is also a Certified Financial Education Instructor (CFEI). At Ascendium, she oversees our internal and external training programs and co-chairs our corporate compliance committee. Hannah has counseled thousands of student loan borrowers on their repayment options throughout her career.  More recently, she delivers professional development workshops and student loan repayment presentations to many organizations, including colleges and universities, nonprofits, professional associations, and state agencies. 

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FAFSA: What's New and How to Get Help
Feb
20
12:00 PM12:00

FAFSA: What's New and How to Get Help

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) just launched on December 31 with the biggest changes in a generation. This live virtual info session covers the key changes and how they affect financial aid. We'll review this year's delayed timeline for financial aid offers, whose aid is changing and how you can get free, individualized help completing your FAFSA in Wisconsin.

The second half of the session focused on answering attendees' questions about the new FAFSA.

Presenters:

Karla Weber Wandel, Communications Manager, Office of Student Financial Aid, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Carole J. Trone, PhD, Interim Executive Director of Wisconsin Coalition on Student Debt & Executive Director of Fair Opportunity Project

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Sep
15
12:00 PM12:00

Free Legal Clinic Expansion in Wisconsin

SEEKING PARTNERS FOR STATE EXPANSION OF TECHNICAL COLLEGE LEGAL CLINIC

Legal problems keep people from graduating and pursuing certain high-paying careers:

 Domestic violence, evictions and child-support issues create significant stressors that make it difficult or impossible for people to attend school.

 Misleading or outdated records and driver’s license suspensions resulting from unpaid fines and fees keep people from being able to pursue certain high-paying, in-demand professions like health care.

Recognizing this, a group of legal-aid providers opened free legal clinics at technical colleges in Madison and Milwaukee. Over 280 people have reached out to the Madison College clinic already. In addition to helping people solve legal problems, the clinics provide a valuable training opportunity for paralegal students. Based on this success, we are expanding to technical colleges throughout Wisconsin—using a virtual platform to connect people throughout the state with volunteer attorneys in other locations. The virtual legal clinic is up and running.

We are looking for technical-college or other partners that want to bring the legal clinic to their communities (by, among other things, publicizing it and educating staff and students about the legal-aid services).

To that end, we are hosting a virtual open house on September 15th from noon to 1 p.m.

You may register here

We will discuss the Madison and Milwaukee clinics and provide information about our expansion and how technical colleges can partner with us to bring the virtual legal clinic to their communities. Ultimately, the legal clinic is not "just" about access to justice.

It is about:

 Removing barriers that can force people to drop out of school and default on their student loans.

 Paving the way so people can pursue an education and good career path.

 Enabling people to pursue and achieve the American Dream and secure safe, stable livelihoods for themselves and their families. We are excited to partner with you.

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Jun
24
10:00 AM10:00

Webex Meeting of the WI Student Debt Task Force

STUDENT DEBT TASK FORCE

The third meeting of the Task Force will be held on June 24. The agenda and registration details can be found on the Student Debt Taskforce website.

The Governor’s Task Force on Student Debt will assess the causes of student debt, provide long-term strategies to reduce education-related debt, find ways to prevent abusive practices by loan companies and improve loan education.

This task force was created by Executive Order #67 signed by Governor Tony Evers. It is chaired by Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) Secretary Kathy Blumenfeld.

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Jun
9
10:00 AM10:00

Webinar: The COVID19 Crisis and Student Loans

The COVID19 pandemic has created a whole new set of challenges for student loan borrowers with the significant disruption it has caused to people’s work, school, health, and families.

Special COVID19-related relief—which includes the temporary suspension of payments and collections—exists for many borrowers. But many borrowers do not know about such relief, how it benefits them, or where they can turn for more information. Borrowers who lack information may struggle to repay their loans amidst the host of COVID19 disruptions they are facing, and are particularly vulnerable targets for fraudulent schemes like those aimed at getting borrowers to pay for relief given automatically.

The Center for Financial Security (CFS), in collaboration with the Wisconsin Coalition on Student Loan Debt (WCSD) and Ascendium Education Solutions, Inc., is hosting a webinar entitled “The COVID19 Crisis and Student Loans: A Webinar Event for Borrowers and Practitioners” on June 2nd from 10:00 to 11:30 CST. The webinar will increase awareness about how COVID19 impacts student loan borrowers and on the various types of COVID19-related relief available. Presenters will provide: - Real-world stories about how COVID19 impacts borrowers and the difficulties borrowers experience in their efforts to understand COVID19-related relief; - Information about fraudulent student loan debt relief companies—including how to identify them and where to report suspected fraud; and - An overview of COVID19-related relief and information about where borrowers can go to learn more.

REGISTER HERE

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