- ORIGINAL NEWS
An important student loan forgiveness deadline is hours away — and it takes under 15 minutes to apply
- SUMMARY
The Biden administration is offering a temporary opportunity to student loan borrowers until the end of April 30th to accelerate the forgiveness timeline for their debt.
By consolidating multiple federal student loans into a single new loan, borrowers may be able to take advantage of this policy.
Normally, consolidation resets the forgiveness timeline to zero, but under this temporary provision, borrowers will receive payment credit based on the loan they’ve been paying off for the longest.
This means that borrowers could potentially qualify for forgiveness sooner than they would have otherwise.
For example, if a borrower has been making payments for 18 years on one loan and 10 years on another, consolidation could lead them to qualify for forgiveness on both loans, even though they would normally have to wait another 2 and 14 years, respectively.
To consolidate loans, borrowers can complete the application process through StudentAid.gov or their loan servicer.
It should take around 15 minutes to submit the necessary forms.
However, borrowers are advised to obtain a complete payment history for each loan before consolidating to ensure they receive accurate credit.
If there are any issues with the payment count, borrowers can contact their loan servicer or file a complaint with the Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid unit.
It’s important to note that consolidating loans while this policy is in place could be a significant advantage for many borrowers looking to expedite debt forgiveness.
- NEWS SENTIMENT CHECK
- Overall sentiment:
positive
Positive
“Some student loan borrowers have until the end of Tuesday to take advantage of an opportunity to get their debt forgiven sooner than they would have otherwise.”
“Borrowers with multiple student loans who request a so-called loan consolidation by the end of the day on April 30 — a move that will combine their federal student loans into one new loan — may benefit from the Biden administration’s temporary policy.”
Negative
“Usually, a student loan consolidation restarts a borrower’s forgiveness timeline to zero, making it a terrible move for those working toward cancellation.”