Relevant information:

• Wife graduates in a month.

• My wife has over 300k in student loans.

• Assume they're all Direct Loans.

• Assume she finds job with 100k income.

• We have two children (family size = 4).

• We have been filing taxes jointly.

• I have no student loans (yet).

• I will embark on a two year MBA program in a few months.

• I will take out 100-200k in student loans.

• Assume after two years, I will have a job with 100k income.

What is the best course of action, specifically regarding my wife's debt?

She is looking into some form of Income-Based Repayment (IBR) loan forgiveness programs. Specifically, she is looking at the Pay as you Earn or 10-year Public Service Loan Forgiveness programs. Are there better options? We haven't looked into private loans, but assume this wouldn't be worth looking at. True/false?

I keep hearing things about how the Public Service Loan Forgiveness may disappear in a few years. How does/should this affect our decision?

For her IBR programs, can we keep filing our taxes jointly until I graduate, then start filing separate tax returns when I start my career? Will this make the most sense?

I assume the amount saved in filing jointly will be less than the IBR when we both have jobs. How can one calculate this?

If we do continue to file taxes jointly, are our loans still considered separate?

I feel that my wife's loan repayment strategy will affect how I finance my education. Any advice on what I should do? I'm thinking of looking into private loans with lower interest rates...