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State Treasurer Clint Zweifel and his staff have teamed up with Sallie Mae to help students with college loans who were impacted by the tornado in Joplin. KSMU’s Scott Butler has more.
Sallie Mae has agreed to put in place a payment relief option through September 30 for eligible student loan customers who need assistance in the Joplin area. This comes in response to the May 22 tornado.
State Treasurer Clint Zweifel came up with the idea to ask Sallie Mae to help these students.
“The key thing is one philosophy, it’s just not one idea, but the philosophy is we want to do everything we can to help Joplin residents at a time of need. While not all residents will need help, nor will all residents need all of these tools that we are providing, they’re nice tools to have in the tool box as we work for recovery,” he said.
The treasurer’s office estimates about 2,000 people in the Joplin area could benefit from this relief program. Zweifel says Sallie Mae is accepting phone calls from any of those affected.
“What individuals should do is call Sallie Mae as soon as possible to inform them of their situation so they can work through and see what they payment relief options are, which could include postponing payments for that set time period,” he said.
Sallie Mae and the state treasurer will monitor the progress and will determine if payment relief efforts need to be extended beyond September.
For KSMU News, I’m Scott Butler.