Dear Neighbor,
On October 17, 2022, President Biden delivered on his promise to provide relief for millions of hardworking Americans with outstanding student loan debt.
As you know, the cost of college has skyrocketed, severely limiting life and career choices for the countless Americans seeking to further their education. Since 1980, the total cost of both four-year public and four-year private college has nearly tripled, even after accounting for inflation. But federal support has not kept up.
Pell Grants once covered nearly 80 percent of the cost of a four-year public college degree for students from working families, but now only cover a third. That has left many students from low- and middle-income families with no choice but to borrow if they want to get a degree. According to a Department of Education analysis, the typical undergraduate student with loans now graduates with nearly $25,000 in debt.
The Biden Administration’s plan provides up to $10,000 in relief for those without Pell Grants and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients. Ninety percent of the relief will go towards borrowers who earn less than $75,000 per year.
The application for loan forgiveness is very simple. It takes fewer than 5 minutes to fill out, and it is available in both English and Spanish.
The deadline to apply is December 31, 2023.
Additionally, the Student Borrower Protection Center will be providing free webinars that will be open to the public for more information regarding the cancellation program. To view all upcoming webinars, click here. For more information about the application, including answers to some frequently asked questions, please consult the links below:
Federal Family Education Loans Program (FFELP) Borrowers:
The Biden Administration has announced that as of September 29, 2022, commercially held FFELP and Perkins loans held by institutions are no longer able to be consolidated to access student debt cancellation under President Biden's debt relief program. The Student Borrower Protection Center will also hold a series of informational webinars specifically catered to helping FFELP borrowers navigate student debt relief. For a list of these webinars, click here.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Waiver:
If you have worked in public service for 10 years or more (even if not consecutively), you may be eligible to have all your student loan debt canceled thanks to temporary changes President Biden made to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. The Student Borrower Protection Center will be holding a final webinar regarding the PSLF Waiver on October 25, before the deadline on October 31. To register for this webinar, please click here. For more information on the PSLF program, click here.
Please be sure to visit my website for more resources. If you have any questions or concerns, or if you need assistance, please don't hesitate to call us at (703) 256-3071.
