Are all income-driven plans unavailable right now? … or is something wrong with my application?

I applied for an income-driven plan back in October and it put me in forbearance, but I never heard anything back. Then I submitted my application again last month on the 4th, and it just put me in review. Nothing else. I submitted it again yesterday, so it’s in progress. But today, I checked and it says I owe money. The problem is, I don’t make enough to pay what it’s asking. The job market is awful, and I’m stuck with a $12 an hour job, despite having a degree.

Is this just the harsh reality for degree holders, or is there something I can do about it?

Which income-driven repayment plan are you on? Also, why did you keep submitting your application over and over? That could be causing delays.

Ray said:
Which income-driven repayment plan are you on? Also, why did you keep submitting your application over and over? That could be causing delays.

I’m on the standard plan right now since I only applied for the first time in October. I kept submitting because one of my applications was closed and the other hasn’t had any updates since the beginning of the month. This time I chose IBR in the hope that it could help, and I also selected ‘let provider choose’ because I thought that might make a difference. I applied again just because it took me out of forbearance, and I thought as long as I applied, I would stay in it.

You might want to call your loan servicer and request forbearance. That could give you some more time while this gets sorted.