Chipper is like TurboTax for student loans. We connect directly with the loan servicers, helping you determine your repayment and forgiveness options. Our Chipper Concierge feature takes it a step further by guiding your repayment and forgiveness strategy, streamlining your paperwork, and providing 1-on-1 advice from our team of student loan experts.
Chipper's mission is to make financial freedom from student loan debt more accessible and attainable to all borrowers! We have over 10 years of experience as the leading student loan management company in the nation, with over 25,000 borrowers (and counting) trusting us with their student loans. We’re sincerely looking forward to helping you achieve your student loan goals.
How does it work?
Once you sync your loans from your servicer, we'll check your eligibility for 150+ loan assistance, income-driven, and forgiveness programs that you may be eligible for. If you choose to enroll/apply for a new repayment plan and/or forgiveness program, you can do so automatically. And we'll be there every step of the way!
Is there a fee?
It’s completely free to explore your repayment options. If you wish to enroll in a plan with our help, we allow you to choose what to pay! Usually, members pay $4/month for Chipper+ (includes all of Chipper’s other features too), but we want to help as many people as possible, no matter what their budget is. So, we allow you to set your price! 😇
Yes. In order to fully take advantage of Chipper’s awesome features and benefits, you must link your loans to chip away at your student debt.
By tracking your linked spending account(s), we will calculate the rounded up amount from each transaction in a week (IE spending $4.28 would add $0.72 to the weekly amount). We then initiate a payment towards your student loan for the weekly amount.
The money from your round-ups will be used to start chipping away at your principal balance on your loan since it is outside of your monthly payments. This is how we’re able to save you such large amounts of time and money with such small chips! On average, we’ve saved users ~$6,200 in interest and almost 6 years in paying down their student loans!
We currently round up whole numbers as well. For example, if a transaction was $4 we will round up to $5 and track the $1 difference towards your round-ups.
During setup (or in Round Up details) you can set a minimum and maximum monthly amount for your Round Up payments. If your tracked transactions add up below the weekly amount of your minimum, we’ll simply initiate a payment for the minimum amount. If it’s above the maximum, we’ll initiate a payment for the maximum. Ex. Your minimum monthly is $10. The first week you have $1.56 in Round Ups. We’ll initiate a payment for $2.50 ($10 ÷ 4).
Yes - Chipper prides itself on ensuring our member’s data is secure throughout the entirety of our experience. We use the same 256 bit encryption as national banks and never sell or share your information.
Unfortunately, right now you are only able to sync your federal student loans since only federal loans are eligible for student loan forgiveness and income-driven repayment plans.
However, you’ll be able to connect your private loans and chip away at them with features such as Round-Ups.
If you can't find your employer in the employer search, try typing the first word of your employer and wait a couple of seconds for the search to render results. If you still can't find your employer, please message us the exact name of your employer followed by the city and state in which you work. A member of our team will gladly assist you as soon as possible.
Are you 100% totally and permanently disabled, you may qualify to have your federal student loans canceled!
You can show proof that you qualify for total and permanent disability (TPD) in three ways:
- Documentation from the Social Security Administration (SSA)
- Documentation from a physician
- Documentation through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Documentation from the Social Security Administration (SSA):
You can qualify for a TPD discharge if you receive Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income by:
- providing a copy of your SSA notice of award or Benefits Planning Query showing that your next scheduled disability review will be 5-7 years or more from the date of your last SSA disability determination.
Documentation From a Physician:
A doctor of medicine (M.D.) or doctor of osteopathy/osteopathic medicine (D.O.) who is licensed to practice in the United States can certify if you are unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity due to a physical or mental impairment. Substantial gainful activity means you are unable to work due to a physical or mental impairment that:
- Can be expected to result in death;
- Has lasted for a continuous period of at least 60 months; or
- Can be expected to last for a continuous period of at least 60 months.
Documentation through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA):
If you’re a veteran, you can qualify for a TPD discharge by providing documentation from the VA that shows determination due to a:
- Service-connected disability that is 100 percent disabling; or
- Total disability based on an individual unemployability rating.
Apply for Discharge (Cancellation):
You’ll need to complete a TPD discharge application and send it, along with any required documentation of your eligibility for discharge, to Nelnet, the TPD discharge servicer. You can start your online application here:
https://secure.disabilitydischarge.com/registration.
After Nelnet receives your application, they will explain the process for the review of your application. While your application is being reviewed, you won’t be required to make any payments on your loans. You can contact Nelnet about your application here: disabilityinformation@nelnet.net or by phone at 1-888-303-7818 Monday–Friday from 7 a.m.–2 a.m. Eastern time (ET), and Saturday from 8 a.m.–7 p.m. ET. You can also visit the Federal Student Aid website for more information about TPD discharge here: https://disabilitydischarge.com/
Note: If you receive TPD discharge between Jan. 1, 2018 to Dec. 31, 2025, the discharged loan amount won’t be considered income for federal tax purposes. However, you will need to check with your state as loan amounts discharged due to TPD, may still be considered income for state tax purposes. You may want to consult with your state tax office or a tax professional before you file your state tax return.
What if you don’t qualify for TPD Cancellation?
If you don’t qualify for TPD discharge or you are denied and still need relief from your student loans, you may still be able to get relief through federal forgiveness programs and/or income-driven repayment plans. Continue on to Chipper to explore your repayment and forgiveness options.
