A student loan forgiveness update will be rolled out in the next week by the Biden administration, coming less than 100 days before the presidential election.
Emails will be sent to millions notifying them they could qualify for debt relief under the enhanced program, along with an opportunity to opt out if they want.
An Education Department announcement made clear what is on offer, with U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona declaring:
Starting tomorrow, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) will begin emailing all borrowers with at least one outstanding federally held student loan to provide updates on potential student debt relief.
Today, the Biden-Harris administration takes another step forward in our drive to deliver student debt relief to borrowers who’ve been failed by a broken system.
The Biden-Harris Administration made a commitment to deliver student debt relief to as many borrowers as possible as quickly as possible, and today, as we near the end of a lengthy rulemaking process, we’re one step closer to keeping that promise.
Much of the relief could be provided to borrowers automatically, without an application, according to the Education Department.
This could streamline relief for many people.
Forbes reports Biden’s new student loan forgiveness plan will be geared toward four broad categories of borrowers:
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- Borrowers who have experienced runaway interest.
- Those who would otherwise be eligible for student loan forgiveness under other programs like income-driven repayment plans or Public Service Loan Forgiveness, but haven’t enrolled.
- Borrowers who first entered repayment at least 20 or 25 years ago, depending on whether they have student loans from graduate school.
- Those who previously enrolled in what the department considers “low-financial-value programs” based on poor outcomes.
Overall, roughly 25 million could have some, or all, of their debt canceled this fall if the program progresses as planned.
