As all students are probably aware, the Biden administration has approved a Student Loan forgiveness program for all current and graduated students who qualify. It is very easy to get lost in social media and multiple platforms posting about the event but not helping those to navigate it, and this is where the Front Page is here to help.
As of October 11th the White House has released details of how this process will unfold. Officials said the website will be live “later this month” and applications will be open through December 2023 but declined to provide a specific launch date. They did however provide a PDF of the form that will be used and the information needed to fill it out.
( pull quote) “We’ve worked really hard to make this application simple and straightforward,” a senior administration official briefing reporters said Tuesday. “We kept the number of questions to a minimum and designed it in collaboration with user testing. Borrowers will not need to log in with their FSA ID. They will not need to upload any documents. The application will be available on both computers and mobile devices. It will be available in both English and Spanish and, of course, accessible to people with disabilities.”
The form to apply includes information on debt relief, who qualifies for it, and how it works. It asks applicants for information including their full names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, phone numbers, and email addresses. The form says that the Department of Education will determine eligibility and get in contact with applicants if more information is needed.
Borrowers must have “student loans held by the federal government” to qualify. In addition to federal Direct Loans used to pay for an undergraduate degree, federal PLUS loans borrowed by graduate students and parents may also be eligible if the borrower meets the income requirements.
Borrowers whose federal student loans are guaranteed by the government but held by private lenders, many of which were made under the former Federal Family Education Loan program and Federal Perkins Loan program, are currently excluded – unless a borrower applied to consolidate those loans into direct loans by September 29.
Individuals who earned less than $125,000 in either 2020 or 2021 and married couples or heads of households who made less than $250,000 annually in those years are eligible for up to $10,000 of their federal student loan debt forgiven. The income thresholds are based on adjusted gross income.
If a qualifying borrower also received a federal Pell grant while enrolled in college, the individual is eligible for up to $20,000 of debt forgiveness. The Department of Education already has information on file about who has received a Pell grant and borrowers will not need to provide proof they received the aid in order to receive the additional relief. After submitting the application, most qualifying borrowers are expected to receive debt relief within weeks.
The Department of Education already has information on file about who has a qualifying federal loan. For some borrowers, it also has their income information, due to previously submitted financial aid forms or income-driven repayment plan applications. However, the Department of Education does not have income information for millions of borrowers. All borrowers will be required to self-attest that they meet the income requirements.
The website is currently up and can be accessed by all students at StudentAid.gov
