The Biden administration is making another attempt to forgive some student loans. The Department of Education has tweaked its income-driven repayment plans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness program in an effort to wipe out nearly $5 billion in debt for more than 73,000 borrowers.
The benefit, however, would affect only a fraction of total student loan borrowers. The first $1.7 billion would help 29,700 borrowers who have been enrolled in the government’s income-driven repayment plans.
The program was set up years ago to forgive some student loan debt after a period of on-tiome payments. The Department of Education says it didn’t always work out to borrowers’ benefit because of sloppy record-keeping on the part of some loan servicers.
Another long-standing program would affect nearly 44,000 borrowers who have worked in public service for a decade or more. Those borrowers would see $3.2 billion in loan relief. Again, the administration blames record-keeping for the lack of loan forgiveness.
President Biden originally planned to wipe out billions of dollars of debt for a majority of student loan borrowers but the Supreme Court found that to be unconstitutional because Congress had not authorized it.
How can you know if you qualify for forgiveness under the administration’s revamped plans? The Department of Education has this website that can provide some answers.
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Posted: 2024-01-19 15:41:18
