Married Student Loan Borrowers Dodged a Payment Increase: Here's What Happened

Getty Images/Zooey Liao, CNET Student loan repayment news is breaking so fast that it's difficult to keep track of all the changes. A recent update to the Department of Education's declarations about how a married borrower's payments are calculated for certain income-based plans led to confusion. Late last week, the Department of Education submitted a court filing that addressed married student loan borrowers enrolled in an income-driven repayment plan who had filed income taxes married but separately. According to the declaration, those borrowers would have their student loan payments calculated using both spouses' combined incomes. This could mean higher monthly payments, because more income would be included. Previously, a spouse's income wasn't included, only the income of the person who was enrolled in the income-driven repayment plan was considered when calculating payments. On Tuesday, acting undersecretary James Bergeron updated the section of the filing to clarify. Marrie ... Read full article.