Dear Students,
Experiencing a health crisis is tough enough but this economic downturn will have major repercussions. If this is your graduation year, it could mean the loss of summer internships.
Also, there may be uncertainty about job offers you accepted to begin your careers in the Fall. If you are returning to your campuses, it likely will remain difficult with social distancing a requirement.
Every student in college has been impacted. Feeling a sense of loss akin to grief would be totally normal. One day you are at school with an essential structure, mixing your social and academic lives in a healthy blend.
According to Bureau of Labor Statistics in July 2009 when the overall US unemployment was 9.4%, those who were 20-24 years were experiencing 15.3% unemployment.
Hearing economic forecasts of 30%+ unemployment rates in the near term with GDP contractions of 34% in the second quarter 2020 definitely sounds ominous. However, many economists are looking for improvements as early as 3Q2020.
– Suspension of involuntary collections of student loan debt, including wage and social security garnishments and tax refund offsets.– Federal loans will suspend payments automatically on Direct loans and Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL) which account for 88% of federal loans.
Some federal loans (about 12% of those) do not qualify for relief under the CARE Act. Excluded loans are Perkins Loans and FFEL loans held by commercial lenders.