Biden’s new student loan forgiveness plan covers 5 groups: Who would qualify?

President Joe Biden is taking another shot at erasing student loan debt, aiming to extend relief efforts to some 30 million borrowers.

The White House unveiled its latest proposal Monday, months after the Supreme Court struck down the plan to cancel some $400 billion in debt held by more than 40 million people. That plan would have canceled up to $10,000 in federal loan debt for borrowers with yearly incomes of up to $125,000 with an additional $10,000 if they received Pell grants for low-income students.

The new approach is more targeted at specific groups of borrowers:

Borrowers who have seen their original balance grow due to unpaid interest

More than 25 million borrowers owe more than they originally borrowed due to accrued interest. These borrowers would be eligible for up to $20,000 in loan forgiveness, regardless of income.

Low and middle-income borrowers enrolled in the existing SAVE Plan or other income-driven repayment plan, or IDR, would be eligible for a waiver of the entire amount their balance has grown since they started making payments. This group of borrowers would include single borrowers who earn $120,000 or less and married borrowers who file joint tax returns who earn $240,000 or less.

These borrowers won’t be required to apply for relief if the plan is approved.

Of the 25 million borrowers helped by such a waiver, 23 million would see the entirety of their balance growth eliminated, the White House said.

Borrowers who are eligible under existing loan forgiveness plans but have not enrolled

Biden’s plan would automatically cancel debt for borrowers otherwise eligible under existing student loan relief plans. This would apply to borrowers who originally took out $12,000 or less in loans and have been in repayment for 10 years that would be eligible to get their remaining debt waived. For every additional $1,000 in loans they took out (up to $21,000 total for undergraduate loans and $26,000 total for graduate loans), a borrower would be eligible for relief after an additional year of repayment. For example, if a borrower took out $13,000 in loans, they would be eligible for debt cancelation after 11 years in repayment.

Borrowers who have been making payments for 20 years or more

This could cover as many as 2 million borrowers who have been repaying student loans for two decades or longer. Borrowers with only undergraduate debt would qualify for forgiveness if they first started making payments on or before July 1, 2005. Borrowers with any graduate school debt would qualify if they first entered repayment on or before July 1, 2000. Borrowers would not need to be on an IDR plan to qualify.

Borrowers who enrolled in “low-financial value” programs

This would cover borrowers who took out loans who attended institutions or programs that lost their eligibility to participate in the Federal student aid program or were denied recertification. It would also cover those who attended schools that closed and failed to provide sufficient value, for example those that leave graduates with unaffordable loan payments or earnings no better than what someone with a high school diploma earns.

Borrowers experiencing hardship paying back their loans

This broad-based category would include what the White House described as “borrowers experiencing hardship in their daily lives that prevent them from fully paying back their loans now or in the future.

“This could include delivering automatic forgiveness to borrowers predicted to be likely to default on their loans, or through an individualized applications where borrowers could detail their financial hardship that is preventing them from being able to fully pay back their loan, such as a childcare or medical expense,” the White House said.

The Education Department plans to release its formal proposal in the coming months followed by a period for comments. If finalized by Nov. 1, the rule would take effect in July 2025, though it faces an uphill battle in Congress.