Biden’s latest moves on student loan forgiveness leave borrowers unimpressed

[mystery-ak]

Biden’s latest moves on student loan forgiveness leave borrowers unimpressed
by Lexi Lonas - 10/04/23 5:00 AM ET

President Biden is in murky water with student loan borrowers and advocates after revealing his next avenues for relief may not be available for everyone the way he originally promised.

Just before student loan payments turned back on after a more than three-year pandemic pause, the administration announced its initial policy considerations for its next debt forgiveness plan. The announcement showed the Department of Education is looking to forgive debt for certain groups of borrowers, but for now apparently backing away from universal relief.

While there is time for plans to change — or for additional ones to emerge — the proposal rattled advocates and supporters who now question if Biden will ever be able to help all 45 million borrowers after the Supreme Court struck down his previous proposal.

“This is the way the student loan swamp in Washington, D.C., operates. They want to put forth a face like they’re really wanting to cancel loans, but the fact of the matter is, the Department of Education has no real desire or intentions of actually canceling any loans, if they can possibly get away with not doing that,” said Alan Collinge, founder of Student Loan Justice.

The new proposal by the administration is set to target “student loan borrowers in need,” including those who entered repayment decades ago, borrowers whose balances are greater than what they originally owed, borrowers who are eligible for relief under specific programs but didn’t apply, those under financial hardship and those who went through programs that didn’t give financial value.

more
https://thehill.com/homenews/education/4236555-bidens-latest-moves-on-student-loan-forgiveness-leave-borrowers-unimpressed/

[mystery-ak]

Biden admin is forgiving $9 billion in debt for 125,000 Americans. Here's who they are.


By Aimee Picchi

October 4, 2023 / 9:00 AM / MoneyWatch

The Biden administration said it is forgiving $9 billion in student debt for 125,000 borrowers, a move that comes as student loan repayments are starting up again this month after a hiatus of more than three years.

The debt cancellation is the latest push from the White House to erase some student loans in the wake of the Supreme Court's June ruling. The 6-3 decision by the court's conservative majority invalidated the administration's plan for broad-based student loan forgiveness, which would have helped more than 40 million borrowers erase up to $20,000 each in debt.

With that debt forgiveness plan struck down, the Biden administration has focused on other methods for relieving student debt, including creating a new income-driven debt repayment (IDR) plan as well as outright forgiveness for some qualified borrowers. Meanwhile, with millions of student borrowers resuming payments this month, there are reports of problems with loan servicers, ranging from long wait times for callers to customer service reps who can't answer questions.

more
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/student-loan-forgiveness-9-billion-125000-borrowers-who-they-are/