Biden Administration Announces Another $1.2 Billion In Student Loan Debt Forgiveness

Another $1.2 Billion In Student Loan Debt Canceled—Are You Eligible?

Kennedy Edgerton is an Updates Editor on the Mortgages and Loans team, leveraging his passion for writing and personal finance to produce stimulating content that empowers readers to enhance their lives through advised decision-making. He has written for several publications, including college newspapers, websites, and blogs on topics relating to politics, music, sports and film. Kennedy is a graduate of Morehouse College with a degree in Cinema, Television and Emerging Media Studies.

Kennedy Edgerton

Kennedy EdgertonUpdates Editor

Updates Editor

Dawn NiciDeputy Editor, Consumer Finance

Dawn Nici is the deputy editor for consumer finance at Forbes Advisor. Her more than 20 years of experience in financial and business reporting includes coverage of the New York Stock Exchange and other major economic stories in New York, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. She spent six years as a financial news radio anchor and host.

Reviewed

Dawn Nici

Dawn NiciDeputy Editor, Consumer Finance

Deputy Editor, Consumer Finance

Reviewed

Updated: Feb 22, 2024, 10:57am

Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on Forbes Advisor. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations.

Another $1.2 Billion In Student Loan Debt Canceled—Are You Eligible?

Getty

More than 150,000 Americans are about to have some—or all—of their student loan balances wiped away. The Biden Administration announced Wednesday that another $1.2 billion in student loan debt is being forgiven. Borrowers enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE, program and who have at least 10 years of repayment history are affected.

Eligible student loan holders will soon receive emails telling them they have been approved for forgiveness. “In the coming days servicers will process the forgiveness and borrowers will see their loans forgiven on their accounts,” the Department of Education said in a news release.

Administration officials announced the SAVE program last summer after the Supreme Court rejected President Joe Biden’s original $400 billion plan to eliminate student loan debt for millions of Americans. SAVE was originally scheduled to launch in July 2024 but was fast-tracked to begin student loan forgiveness efforts this month. Today, 7.5 million borrowers are enrolled in the SAVE program—4.3 million of whom pay $0 monthly.

In January, the administration made a similar announcement about debt cancellation. It provided $4.9 billion in student loan forgiveness to 70,000 borrowers enrolled in income-driven repayment (IDR) and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) plans.

How Can You Qualify for This Student Loan Forgiveness?

The SAVE program reduces monthly student loan payments by raising the income exemption from 150% to 225% of the poverty level. SAVE program monthly payments are based on 5% of the income you have that exceeds 225% of the poverty line, minus taxes and other expenses.

To qualify, you must have up to $12,000 in student loan debt and at least 10 years of payment history.

For every $1,000 of debt over the $12,000 limit, you’ll need to add an extra year of repayment before receiving forgiveness. For example, if you took out $16,000 in loans, you’d receive forgiveness after four years.

To enroll in the SAVE program, you must fill out an application directly on the Education Department’s website and provide your federal student aid ID, contact information and financial details.

You must also have one of the following loan types to qualify:

Direct subsidized loans
Direct unsubsidized loans
Direct PLUS loans held by graduate or professional students

Other Student Loan Debt Cancellation Efforts

The Biden Administration has forgiven the student loan debt of nearly 3.9 million Americans, amounting to $138 billion in relief, according to the Education Department.

This relief total includes:

$56.7 billion for 793,000 borrowers through PSLF fixes
$45.6 billion for 930,500 borrowers enrolled in an IDR plan
$11.7 billion for 513,000 borrowers with disabilities
$22.5 billion for 1.3 million borrowers affected by school discharges and related legal settlements