Dr. Tony Bartels on the latest student debt news

Listen in with VIN Foundation board member and Student Debt Education lead Dr. Tony Bartels in this next installment of our Student Debt Series. In this episode we’re covering the latest news on income-driven repayment application changes

Topics covered included:

• What happened to the Income-Driven Repayment application?
• If borrowers are using an income-driven payment plan right now, what should they do?
• How do these changes impact monthly payments for borrowers?
• How about borrowers who are hoping for PSLF? How do the recent changes impact them?
• What’s the best approach for borrowers when dealing with loan servicers?

As always, we want to hear from YOU. Please share your thoughts by sending an email or joining the conversation.

NOTE: This is an ongoing situation, for continued updates visit the VIN Foundation Blog and student debt message board areas.

GUEST BIO:

Dr. Tony Bartels Tony Bartels, DVM, MBA graduated in 2012 from the Colorado State University combined MBA/DVM program and is a VIN Foundation Board Member and Student Debt Expert, and an employee of the Veterinary Information Network (VIN). He and his wife, a small-animal internal medicine specialist practicing in Denver, have more than $400,000 in veterinary-school debt that they manage using federal income-driven repayment plans. By necessity (and now obsession), his professional activities include researching and speaking on veterinary-student debt, providing guidance to colleagues on loan-repayment strategies and contributing to VIN Foundation resources. Beyond debt, his professional interests include small- and exotic-animal practice. When he’s not staring holes into his colleagues’ student-loan data, Tony enjoys fly fishing, ice hockey, camping and exploring Colorado with his wife, Audra, daughter, Lucy, and their two rescued canines, Addi and Maggie.

LINKS AND INFORMATION:

VIN Foundation Student Debt Center: https://vinfoundation.org/studentdebtcenter

Time for your student loan physical exam? VIN Foundation My Student Loans tool http://www.vinfoundation.org/mystudentloans

VIN Foundation Download My IDR Progress Google Chrome extension to help you grab a copy of your IDR forgiveness progress

VIN Foundation Blog, most recent:

• All IDR applications for student loans are paused – Now what?
• February 2025 Q&A from Climbing Mt. Debt Webinar: What’s Next for your Student Loans?

VIN Foundation Navigating Uncertainty Checklist, what you can do now: https://vinfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/VIN-Foundation-What-You-Can-Do-Now-Navigating-Student-Loan-Uncertainty.pdf

Climbing Mt. Debt webinar: What’s Next for Your Student Loans? by VIN and VIN Foundation, February 5th, 2025: https://vinfoundation.org/resources/repay-wiser-veterinary-school-debt-loan-repayment/#MostRecentWebinar

VIN Foundation Relevant WikiDebt Resources:

• IDR Profiles: What is your IDR profile?
• IDR Discretionary income calculations

Personalized student loan help from VIN and VIN Foundation: https://vinfoundation.org/veterinary-student-loan-debt-help/

Department of Education Updates on Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE Plan):

• https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/save-court-actions
• https://www.ed.gov/save
• https://studentaid.gov/

VIN Foundation get updates: https://vinfoundation.org/updates/

VIN Foundation GIVE page to support programs these programs & tools: https://vinfoundation.org/give

Have a veterinary story you want to share? https://share.hsforms.com/1e6QkQvg2RI-wpDv59Byqkwcos60

Stay up to date with VIN Foundation updates: https://vinfoundation.org/updates/

Email VIN Foundation: studentdebt@vinfoundation.org

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