- ORIGINAL NEWS
Student loan forgiveness may come for 380,000 borrowers, Biden says. How to know if you qualify
- SUMMARY
The Biden administration has provided student loan relief to a substantial number of borrowers, clearing the debts of nearly 4 million individuals, totaling a staggering $143.6 billion.
This relief has been achieved through various methods, primarily by improving existing loan forgiveness programs that were previously challenging to access.
If you’re wondering if you qualify for loan cancellation, here are a few avenues to explore: * **Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF):** This program forgives the remaining balance of your student loans after 10 years of qualifying payments for workers in public service, such as teachers, social workers, and healthcare professionals.
* **Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) Plans:** These plans cap your monthly loan payments based on your income and forgive any remaining balance after 10 to 25 years of payments.
* **Other Forgiveness Programs:** Over 100 state-specific forgiveness programs are available to encourage certain types of employment, such as healthcare or law enforcement.
While Biden’s email may provide clarity for some borrowers, there are other ways to determine your eligibility: * Visit Studentaid.gov, the U.S. Department of Education’s website, for detailed information on different forgiveness opportunities.
* Contact your loan servicer to discuss your potential eligibility and any actions you may need to take to qualify.
* Explore FreeStudentLoanAdvice.org, a database of state-specific forgiveness programs.
The administration is currently working on a revised loan forgiveness plan after the Supreme Court blocked their previous plan.
As many as 10 million people could potentially benefit from this revised program.
To ensure a smooth loan forgiveness process, experts recommend keeping a record of your payments and requirements met along the way.
The Department of Education has been actively reviewing borrower accounts and providing credit for periods that previously didn’t qualify.
If you have any concerns or issues with your payment count, contact your loan servicer or submit a complaint to Federal Student Aid.
- NEWS SENTIMENT CHECK
- Overall sentiment:
positive
Positive
“The Biden administration has cleared the student loans of nearly 4 million people, totaling $143.6 billion in aid.”
“They can also contact their loan servicer to talk about their potential eligibility and steps they may have to take to qualify.”
“The Education Department has been reviewing the accounts of borrowers in income-driven repayment plans, and in some cases giving people credit on their forgiveness timeline for periods that didn’t qualify previously.”
“If a borrower has multiple loans, meanwhile, they can apply for consolidation – which combines federal student loans into one new loan – and get credit going back as far as their first loan payment on the oldest of their original loans in that bundle.”
Negative
“The loan forgiveness programs can be confusing and many borrowers have run into walls trying to access the relief to which they’re entitled.”
“The Supreme Court last June struck down the president’s plan to deliver student loan forgiveness to as many as 40 million Americans”