Never Going to Happen: Biden’s Student Debt Relief Program

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The program promoted by President Joe Biden to eliminate a portion of student debt will arrive this October, as applications open for hundreds of thousands of students and former students to process.

What’s worrisome for many advocates is that some borrowers do not realize that it will be up to them to apply for relief. One group has begun a grassroots effort, gathering 600 volunteers nationwide to mobilize and educate student borrowers about the one-time debt relief program.

Cody Hounanian, executive director of the Los Angeles-based Student Debt Crisis Center, said the mobilization effort is needed because information gaps could harm borrowers if they don’t file the required online application. Some borrowers, he said, didn’t see an application immediately when the program was announced Aug. 24 and now are unsure what to expect.

Hounanian said older borrowers, in particular, could be at risk if they’re not willing or able to take on the online application process. The application isn’t online yet.

You can sign up to receive updates at www.ed.gov/subscriptions. You’d provide an email address to the U.S. Department of Education and click on the top box “NEW!! Federal Student Loan Borrower Updates.”

Important information:

-Open applications: October 2022, application for Student Forgiveness will be released

-The Department of Education is recommending everyone apply regardless if you have automatic forgiveness or not

-Apply for student loan forgiveness by this date

-There’s a 4-6 week turn around for forgiveness

-Doing so will ensure you receive your loan discharge before regular payments resume and interest begins accruing again

-If your entire balance is not erased interest will begin accruing again on the remaining balance and regular payments will resume.

About half of all Latino student loan borrowers are expected to have their entire debt forgiven under the plan announced Wednesday by President Joe Biden.Following up on a campaign promise, the Biden administration is canceling up to $10,000 in federal loan debt and an additional $10,000 if the student was a Pell Grant recipient. Those eligible to qualify must earn less than $125,000 or less than $250,000 for couples filing taxes jointly.