White House revising student loan forgiveness plan to help borrowers
The Education Department released a draft of new federal rules paving the way for a second attempt at student loan relief by the Biden administration.
LEARN MOREPosted: 4:13 p.m. EST Nov 28, 2023
Starting Tuesday, about 813,000 student borrowers will receive an email from President Joe Biden notifying them that their loans have been fully forgiven.
According to a White House official, the president is reaching out directly to those benefiting from his administration's debt forgiveness initiative.
“For too long, the student loan program failed to live up to its commitments — and millions never got the relief they were owed because of errors and administrative failures. The president vowed to fix that and he continues to deliver on that promise. As a result of his administration’s actions, many of these borrowers now have zero dollars in student loans,” said the White House official.
These emails follow the administration's earlier announcement this year that the government would forgive loans for borrowers participating in income-driven repayment plans. Although these plans have traditionally allowed cancellation after 20 or 25 years of payments, "past administrative failures" led to inaccuracies in payment counts, hindering borrowers' progress toward forgiveness, as acknowledged by the department.
The White House says that to date, the Biden-Harris administration has granted forgiveness for over $127 billion in student loan debt, benefiting almost 3.6 million borrowers, and over 2.9 million individuals enrolled in the Biden administration's SAVE plan now owe a monthly payment of $0.
“I hope this relief gives you a little more breathing room. I’ve heard from countless people who have told me that relieving the burden of student loan debt will allow them to support themselves and their families, or move forward with life plans they’ve put on hold,” President Biden says in the email that will be sent to borrowers. “I’m proud that we were able to give borrowers like you the relief you earned. I promise you that as long as I am President, I will never stop fighting for hardworking American families, and will never stop working to make sure our democracy delivers for the American people.”
After an over-three-year pause, student loan repayments started back on Oct. 1, and interest on loans also resumed accruing, marking the end of a prolonged legal dispute over broader debt cancellation spearheaded by the Biden administration and thwarted by the Supreme Court in June.
Despite ongoing efforts by the administration to grant debt forgiveness to over 800,000 borrowers and implement a new income-driven repayment plan, this leaves the remaining 43.5 million Americans responsible for an average monthly payment of $337 to manage their loans.
In the email, which you can read in its entirety below, the president is also asking recipients to share what the relief means to them.
