Who can benefit from Biden’s latest student loan forgiveness plan?
As President Joe Biden’s term heads into its final months, he continues to push his student loan forgiveness program. Who benefits from the latest plan?
President Joe Biden continues to work on a loan forgiveness program that would benefit millions who are saddled with student debt. The Biden government is expected to implement the latest plan as early as October.
This new initiative is more limited in scope than the one the president first proposed, which the Supreme Court put a stop to last year. After some tweaking in an effort to make the new plan’s implementation more feasible, the Biden government has released new guidelines for the proposed scheme.
The details have yet to be hammered out, but once they are, the Department of Education will inform borrowers if they are eligible.
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Who can benefit from Biden’s latest student loan forgiveness plan?
There are four groups of borrowers who will likely be qualified for partial or full loan forgiveness if the plan overcomes legal challenges.
Those who have been paying for more than 19 years
Borrowers with undergraduate student loans who started to pay on or before July 1, 2005 are expected to qualify for the aid. Those who took out loans for graduate degrees or for a combination of undergraduate and graduate studies must have started paying on or before July 1, 2000.
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Those who went to problematic schools
Students who went to what the Department of Education defines as “low-value” institutions may also benefit from the plan. The department says that for the school to be defined as such, it must have “lost eligibility, or closed while at risk of losing eligibility, to give out federal student loans.”
Those who owe more than when they started paying off their debt
The Education Department says those whose current debts are bigger than the balance they had when they began repayment could be eligible to cancel $20,000 off their loan.
Those who are already qualified for debt forgiveness
A lot of borrowers may have already qualified to have their loans cancelled under other programs but have not applied for it. They may not have been aware of these forms of financial aid, such as income-driven repayment schemes, and thus have failed to enroll to receive them.