Loans and Taxes

Student Loans
They helped you get through four years at Hopkins – now it’s time to start paying them back. Here are the ins and outs of student loans and how you can make the repayment process as painless as possible.

Lightening the Load: Loan Forgiveness vs Loan Repayment
Student loan forgiveness programs are supported by the federal government and present ways to eliminate debt from Federal loans through programs like Stafford and Perkins. They most often involve taking up a specific career or volunteer position in the military, in education, the Peace Corps, or public sector work. (http://www.finaid.org/loans/forgiveness.phtmla).

Loan repayment programs apply to all loans, federal and private, and present ways to eliminate loans or receive help in repaying them.

• https://www.salliemae.com/
• http://www.direct.ed.gov/
• http://www.staffordloan.com/

Thinking about graduate school? See what the US News and World Report has to say about loans.

Taxes

Now that you’re out in the ‘real world’ it’s time to get acquainted with the less enjoyable aspects of adult life, like taxes. While filing taxes on your own for the first time may seem intimidating, there are plenty of resources on the internet that can ease your worries about the process.

• About Taxes
• Go to the source. The IRS website is full of how-to’s for filing taxes.
• H&R Block’s website has tons of resources as well as a free online filing option. If you don’t feel comfortable filing on your own, consider setting up an appointment at one of the hundreds of H&R Block offices around the country.
• TurboTax offers free and paid version of tax filing software that can often make the process easier.
• The Post Grad Agenda is a blog about “life after college” and provides 5 very useful links and descriptions of FREE websites that can help you file taxes after college.