If you have a federally held student loan, you might be eligible for student debt relief under draft rules that have been proposed.
Borrowers will start receiving emails this week from the Biden-Harris administration, letting them know they might be eligible for student loan debt relief if the rules are finalized this fall.
There’s no guarantee, and the administration said it will provide additional information to borrowers once the rules are finalized.
The following groups of borrowers could receive debt relief if the rules are finalized as proposed:
- Borrowers who owe more now than they did at the start of repayment. Borrowers would be eligible for relief if they have a current balance on certain types of Federal student loans that is greater than the balance of that loan when it entered repayment due to runaway interest. The Department estimates that this debt relief would impact nearly 23 million borrowers, the majority of whom are Pell Grant recipients.
- Borrowers who have been in repayment for decades. If a borrower with only undergraduate loans has been in repayment for more than 20 years (received on or before July 1, 2005), they would be eligible for this relief. Borrowers with at least one graduate loan who have been in repayment for more than 25 years (received on or before July 1, 2000) would also be eligible.
- Borrowers who are otherwise eligible for loan forgiveness but have not yet applied. If a borrower hasn’t successfully enrolled in an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan but would be eligible for immediate forgiveness, they would be eligible for relief. Borrowers who would be eligible for closed school discharge or other types of forgiveness opportunities but haven’t successfully applied would also be eligible for this relief.
- Borrowers who enrolled in low-financial value programs. If a borrower attended an institution that failed to provide sufficient financial value, or that failed one of the Department’s accountability standards for institutions, those borrowers would also be eligible for debt relief.
Borrowers who want to opt out of the potential debt-relief for any reason have until August 30, 2024, to do so.
For more information, visit StudentAid.gov/debt-relief.
