3.6 million student loan borrowers to receive credit, others to receive total loan forgiveness

Washington D.C.- Tuesday, the Department of Education announced steps that will bring borrowers closer to student loan forgiveness. Federal Student Aid estimates that these changes will result in immediate debt cancellation for at least 40,000 borrowers under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. Several thousand borrowers with older loans will also receive forgiveness through IDR. More than 3.6 million borrowers will also receive at least three years of additional credit toward IDR forgiveness.

“Student loans were never meant to be a life sentence, but it’s certainly felt that way for borrowers locked out of debt relief they’re eligible for,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “Today, the Department of Education will begin to remedy years of administrative failures that effectively denied the promise of loan forgiveness to certain borrowers enrolled in IDR plans. These actions once again demonstrate the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to delivering meaningful debt relief and ensuring federal student loan programs are administered fairly and effectively.”

Beyond the immediate corrective actions announced Tuesday that will provide relief to borrowers harmed in the past, The Department of Education says that FSA will take action to ensure that borrowers receive these benefits in the future.

In addition to Tuesday’s announcement, The Department of Education states that they have now approved approximately:

$6.8 billion for more than 113,000 public servants through improvements to PSLF;
$7.8 billion for more than 400,000 borrowers who have a total and permanent disability;
$1.2 billion for borrowers who attended ITT Technical Institutes before it closed; and
Nearly $2 billion to 105,000 borrowers who were defrauded by their school.