Biden administration announces next steps for fall student debt relief

The Biden administration announced Wednesday the next steps for student debt relief this fall.  

On Thursday, the Education Department will begin emailing borrowers who have at least one outstanding student loan held federally to let them know about potential upcoming relief and if they would prefer to opt out of it.

If a borrower does decide to opt out of the upcoming relief, they will not be able to reverse their decision and the borrower will temporarily be removed from any loan forgiveness programs until the department assesses their eligibility. Borrowers are automatically opted in if they qualify.

“These latest steps will mark the next milestone in our efforts to help millions of borrowers who’ve been buried under a mountain of student loan interest, or who took on debt to pay for college programs that left them worse off financially, those who have been paying their loans for twenty or more years, and many others,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said.  

“The Biden-Harris Administration made a commitment to deliver student debt relief to as many borrowers as possible as quickly as possible, and today, as we near the end of a lengthy rulemaking process, we’re one step closer to keeping that promise.”

The administration stressed this step does not guarantee any relief for borrowers, but the negotiated rulemaking process will be concluded in the fall.

The borrowers who could be eligible for the relief if approved are those who owe more money now than when they started paying on their loans, borrowers caught in repayment for decades, those who are eligible for loan forgiveness and haven’t applied and those who enrolled in low financial value programs. 

“These rules, if finalized as proposed, would bring the total number of borrowers eligible for student debt relief to over 30 million, including borrowers who have already been approved for debt cancellation by the Biden-Harris Administration over the past three years,” the administration said.