The Biden administration just revealed its next steps toward providing student debt relief to millions of borrowers this fall.
On Wednesday, July 31, the Department of Education announced that they would begin reaching out to student loan borrowers who may qualify for relief from President Joe Biden’s not-yet-finalized plan for debt relief. That plan, which has been in the works throughout Biden’s time in office, and the first version of it was struck down by the Supreme Court last year.
On Thursday, August 1, the Education Department began sending out emails to millions of borrowers with one or more outstanding federal student loans to inform them of potential relief in the near future and asking them if they would like to opt out of the forgiveness plan. Borrowers who do not actively opt out of the program will automatically become enrolled if eligible.
Those who do opt-out will be unable to reverse that decision and will be removed from any forgiveness programs temporarily until the Education Department determines their eligibility again.
Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said that the latest steps by the Biden administration mark a new “milestone” in their “efforts to help millions” of Americans who he said are “buried under a mountain” of interest from their loans. He said some of these Americans borrowed money to pay for college programs that only left them “worse off financially,” and that many have been trying to pay off the debt for over two decades.
Cardona said the current administration promised to deliver relief “as quickly as possible” to as many people as possible. He said that the current “rulemaking process” is nearing its end and that they are now “one step closer” to fulfilling this promise. He added that although negotiations for the process will end in the fall, there is no guarantee yet that borrowers will receive relief from their debts.
Eligible borrowers are those whose outstanding debts exceed the amount they started with when they began paying it off, particularly those who have been trying to pay it off for several decades. Cardona said if the rules are “finalized as proposed,” over 30 million borrowers may benefit from the program, including those who were already approved over the past three years that Biden has been in office.
