When will Biden Student Loan Forgiveness be applied now that SCOTUS will hear case?

The Supreme Court announced on Thursday that it will hear arguments on the legality of President Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness Program on an expedited basis. However, the high court left in place the hold on the Department of Education discharging any student loan debt put in place by a lower court.

The White House had asked for the program to move forward while the various lawsuits against the program work their way through the courts. Maintaining the block comes as a setback for the Biden administration and borrowers looking for certainty.

Hold keeps Department of Education from processing millions of debt forgiveness applications

Had the Supreme Court removed the hold it would have allowed the processing of 26 million applications already submitted, 16 million of which have been approved, as well as potentially accept more. All parties involved will have to wait until February when the high court said that it will hear arguments about the program, and most likely until June when the justices would hand down a decision.

The program promises to cancel up to $20,000 of student loan debt for eligible borrowers. However, six Republican-led states that have challenged the legality of the program are arguing that the Biden doesn’t have the authority.

The latest student loan repayments will begin is late August 2023

Student borrowers though can breath at least a little sigh of relief going into the holiday season. Biden extended the moratorium on repayments and interest accrual that was set to expire at the end of the year, pushing the new expiration date for the end of June.

The pause will stay in place until the legal challenges are resolved or the new end date for moratorium arrives, whichever comes first. Should there be neither a decision nor the program up and running, borrowers will have until the end of August before they have to make their first repayment since the start of the pause.