The pause on federal student loan interest and payments has ended. New dentists and dental students with federal student loans will be faced with large monthly bills, many for the first time. Given that today’s new dentists start their careers with an average of $305,000 in student loan debt, these monthly payments, and the interest they accrue, will pose a significant economic burden. The ADA advocates for numerous student loan reform policies, but today we are asking you to tell your members of Congress to support the Resident Education Deferred Interest (REDI) Act.
If enacted, this bill would allow dental and medical residents to automatically defer payments on their federal student loans during their dental or medical residency. It would also suspend the accrual of interest during their residency period. This can save our dental students and new dentists tens of thousands of dollars. This bill will not erase the staggering amounts of debt that new medical and dental graduates have, but it will ease some of the financial stress for our ADA members who are just starting off in their health care careers.