By Kevin Lavery, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – The Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority, or MOHELA, will completely erase loan balances under $500, and will deduct $500 from higher balances.
"One teacher went from something like $600 in debt to $28 in debt," said MOHELA Executive Director John Wild. "Our customer service rep who talked to them said the guy was so happy, she was afraid he was going to jump through the phone and kiss her. And I thought that was kind of a nice warm feeling for us, because we're helping people who help other people."
Earlier this year, MOHELA wrote off more than $500,000 in student loan debts held by Missouri police officers and National Guard troops.