Loan Debt Relief

Things to Know About the Biden-Harris Administration's Student Debt Relief Plan:

Part 1: Final extension of the student loan repayment pause

The Biden-Harris Administration has extended the pause for student loan payments. Payments will resume 60 days after the Department is permitted to implement the Student Loan Debt Relief program or the litigation is resolved. If the Student Loan Debt Relief program has not been implemented and the litigation has not been resolved by June 30th, 2023 payments will resume 60 days after that.

Part 2: Targeted debt relief for loan borrowers

Federal Loan Borrowers (undergraduate, graduate and Parent PLUS loan borrowers) may now qualify for up to $10,000-$20,000 in debt relief as announced by President Biden on Wednesday, Aug. 24. This is a one-time, pandemic-related loan cancelation.

The minimum qualifying criteria include:

• Must have an outstanding Federal Loan (subsidized, unsubsidized, Perkins, and/or PLUS) balance from a loan borrowed as an undergraduate, graduate or Parent
• Loans must have been disbursed by June 30, 2022
• Borrowers must meet income requirements
  • Single (independent student) borrowers income cap = $124,999
  • Household (dependent student, married couples, heads of household) borrowers income cap = $249,999
• ED will use the 2021-2022 FAFSA income data for borrowers; if applicable, to automatically determine eligibility. For borrowers without a 2021-2022 FAFSA, subscribe to the  U.S. Department of Education page to be notified when the application becomes available.
• Forgiven amounts will be based on the borrowers outstanding loan debt and awarded up to:
  • $20,000 for Federal Pell recipients
  • $10,000 for non-Federal Pell recipients
• To check your student aid history, including loan balances and Pell Grant recipient status, log in to your federal student aid account.

For additional information see the Federal Student Aid Frequently Asked Questions webpage.