Biden Admin to Notify 25 Million Student Loan Borrowers of Debt Forgiveness by Email

The Biden administration is notifying 25 million student loan borrowers by email of their potential eligibility for debt relief, the U.S. Department of Education announced Wednesday [https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/biden-harris-administration-takes-next-step-toward-additional-debt-relief-tens-millions-student-loan-borrowers-fall].

Starting tomorrow, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) will begin emailing all borrowers with at least one outstanding federally held student loan to provide updates on potential student debt relief,
— U.S. Dept. of Education

What to Expect

Borrowers will receive an email with information on how to opt out of debt relief. The opt-out period ends August 30. A follow-up email will be sent in the fall with final eligibility rules and forgiveness plans.

Who Qualifies?

The plan, first proposed in April [https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/biden-harris-administration-releases-first-set-draft-rules-provide-debt-relief-millions-borrowers], outlines four borrower categories for relief:

1. Those who owe more than their initial balance due to interest
2. Those who have been in repayment for 20+ years (undergrad loans) or 25+ years (grad loans)
3. Those eligible for loan forgiveness but haven't applied (IDR, closed school discharge, etc.)
4. Those who enrolled in low-financial value programs or institutions that failed accountability standards

Next Steps

U.S. Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, reiterated the administration's commitment to debt relief, saying:

Today, the Biden-Harris administration takes another step forward in our drive to deliver student debt relief to borrowers who’ve been failed by a broken system.

With these emails, the administration is one step closer to providing relief to over 30 million borrowers.