With the recent alert from the U.S. Department of Education about involuntary collections on student loans, a new MAC Service Corp. sponsored program is the subject of a timely special episode of Podcast 83.

Savi is the leading social impact company helping student loan borrowers manage repayment and apply for federal programs. Programs like income-driven repayment and Public Service Loan Forgiveness are available to county employees, explained Savi’s Tony Raffa.

“Savi helps borrowers navigate their student debt. We do this mostly by working with both employers and borrowers, and bringing this through employers to the borrowers, whether it be residents of a county or the employees of that county,” he said.

“When we started in 2017, we looked at a great program that's available to all government employees, called Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Many of us were trying to get through that program ourselves and realizing how much of a challenge it was. In fact, in 2017, only 1 percent of applicants actually crossed the finish line of Public Service Loan Forgiveness.”

Michigan’s Oakland County is among the county adopters of this program, Raffa said. “We've been seeing some pretty amazing impact, and we've really been seeing this grow very rapidly through counties.”