Marsha Wipperman, 59, was willing to do whatever it took to give her son the best possible life.
After receiving his high-school diploma in 2011, Wipperman's son wanted to continue pursuing an education, but he needed to enroll in a program that would best suit his needs given he's on the autism spectrum. Luckily, they found a program at a private university in California that would give Wipperman's son the chance to study art and design — areas in which he excelled — and Wipperman didn't think twice.
Her son got accepted into the program, and while he received a few grants, they weren't enough to cover the full tuition. So Wipperman's son received federal student aid in his name, and Wipperman took out a $77,000 parent PLUS loan — a type of loan parents can take on for their kids that can cover up to the full cost of attendance.
"When he had that opportunity and was accepted, however, we were going to pay for it. I didn't really care because I'm going sign it," Wipperman told Insider. "I'm going pay it. Never in my mind was I not going to pay it, and I still would today. So I just signed away on my parents loans because that's what a parent does."
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Wipperman's son graduated with a bachelor's degree in 2017, and given his autism diagnosis, he qualified for a total- and permanent-disability discharge, which gives debt relief to borrowers who prove they're totally and permanently disabled, through confirmation from the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Social Security Administration, or a physician.
He still has to adhere to a three-year monitoring period in which he has to verify that his disability status and income are unchanged, or his loans could be reinstated.
But Wipperman is burdened by student loans she took out for her son, and while she said she would do the same thing all over again to help her son could have the future she wanted for him, she wished there were an option for parents like her to seek relief.
According to Federal Student Aid's website, Wipperman can see her debt balance wiped out only if she dies, becomes totally and permanently disabled, or files for bankruptcy.
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"If his could be discharged, why couldn't the parent's if the parent loan was and only can be taken out for the student?" Wipperman said.
'I've done 100% what I needed to do at that time'
Parent PLUS loans gave Wipperman's son the opportunity to attend college, and she wouldn't have done it any other way. But what distinguishes her loans from the type of federal direct loan her son took on is that PLUS loans do not have a limit on borrowing, meaning parents can take on a significant amount of debt without any barriers to ensure they can afford to pay off the balance.
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On top of that, PLUS loans have the highest interest rate out of all federal loans, which can make the balance surge if the borrower can't quickly pay their debt off.
"I've done 100% what I needed to do at that time," Wipperman said. "I didn't care how we were going to afford it. I worked four part-time jobs to make sure that he could go to that program. And I'll make sure that his bills get paid. I can pay them until I die."
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Wipperman joins other parents who took on debt for their kids because it was the only option to give them a higher education. Insider previously spoke with a dad who took on $550,000 in PLUS loans for his five kids, and he said that he's "looking at paying $3,000 a month for the better part of the rest of my life."
"I'm just not going to take the chance on not sending my kids to school, even though it's going to create a tremendous financial burden," he said. "It's not an option."
Biden's student-debt relief 'is not even my focus or concern'
For some parents, PLUS loans are included in the plan President Joe Biden announced in August to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for federal borrowers. While the plan is paused because of two conservative-backed lawsuits — the Supreme Court is set to issue a decision on the relief's legality by June — parents, and millions of other borrowers, might receive a reduction to their balances this year.
But that's not top of mind for Wipperman, and she continues to care for her son while managing her own student-debt load.
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"I think it will help some people. I think it will help a lot of people, probably," Wipperman said. "But it is not even my focus or concern right now. It's just really the TPD process."
The Education Department has taken steps to reform the debt-relief process for TPD borrowers, many of whom have seen their loans reinstated despite their disability status.
After a 2016 report from the Government Accountability Office found that 98% of reinstated disability discharges occurred because borrowers did not submit the required documentation, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona waived the requirement to submit documentation verifying income.
Wipperman is now just hoping that the relief can be extended to parents like herself.
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"I didn't enter into loans or want to support my son through five years of classes and driving him every day because I'm crazy. I wanted him to succeed and was fully vested in his dream," Wipperman said. "That's just what you have to do. That's just part of being a parent of a disabled adult/child."
Story originally published in April 2023.
