It may be hard to comprehend why they would opt out, but student loan borrowers can do just that under a recently announced student loan debt relief program.
Under the program, borrowers who, for whatever reason, don’t want to be considered for debt relief must opt out by August 30.
In an August 6 announcement, the Department of Education (ED) said federal student loan borrowers with at least one ED-held loan should have received an email telling them about the potential student debt relief and the option to opt out of receiving the relief.
While the new rules to cancel student loan debt haven’t been finalized, if implemented as currently proposed, they would apply to four scenarios as outlined in the announcement.
On August 1, the Department started sending emails to borrowers who haven’t entered repayment or are still enrolled in school and instructed borrowers that they have until August 30 to contact each of their ED loan servicers to opt out if they don’t want to receive relief.
The email isn’t a guarantee that these borrowers will be eligible for relief and additional information will be provided once the rules are final. However, if a borrower opts out, they will not be able to opt back in.
Schools should direct borrowers to the servicers of their ED-held student loans for answers to their questions and to ensure that the opt-out requests are submitted by the August 30 deadline.
Borrowers can also find more information at StudentAid.gov/debtrelief and the most recent announcement.
