On Aug. 24, President Biden announced his administration’s Student Debt Relief Plan, which:

• extends the student loan repayment pause through December 31, 2022.
• Provides one-time loan cancellation to eligible borrowers who have federally-held student or parent loans that were first disbursed prior to July 1, 2022. Eligibility for loan cancellation is based on student or parent income thresholds. Eligible borrowers who received a Federal Pell Grant can receive up to $20,000 in loan cancellation. Other eligible borrowers can receive up to $10,000 in loan cancellation.
• Proposes a new income-driven repayment plan aimed at reducing monthly payment obligations for low and middle income borrowers.

The Biden Administration expects to release an application for loan cancellation in October 2022, and borrowers will have until December 31, 2023 to apply. You can sign up to be notified when this occurs at the Department of Education’s subscription page.

Other student loan-related initiatives implemented by the Biden administration include Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness (TEPSLF) and “Fresh Start”. TEPSLF offered a temporary period (which ends Oct. 31, 2022!) during which borrowers may receive credit for payments that previously did not qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. The “Fresh Start” initiative helps borrowers who are in default on federal student loan(s) by restoring eligibility to federal student aid, stopping collections on defaulted loans, and providing an opportunity to restore loans to good standing.

The best place for accurate information about federal student loan policies is www.studentaid.gov. To be notified of updates please subscribe to “Federal Student Loan Borrower Updates” on the US Department of Education’s subscription page.

— Ryan Zantingh, Director of Financial Aid