Jan. 12 (UPI) — The Education Department on Friday announced it will begin forgiving student loans for thousands of borrowers ahead of schedule.
Borrowers involved in the Saving on a Valuable Education plan who made payments for the past 10 years and whose initial loans were for $12,000 or less will have their debts automatically canceled beginning next month, months ahead of the initial July deadline.
The department said eligible borrowers will be notified in early February and will not be required to take any action to receive forgiveness.
“Our ability to deliver this relief to borrowers months ahead of schedule is a testament to the Biden Administration’s commitment to delivering relief to as many borrowers as possible as quickly as possible,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said.
The SAVE plan was created last year as a replacement for the Revised Pay As You Earn Plan, after the U.S. Supreme Court declared the wide net student forgiveness plan illegal last year, hampering one of President Joe Biden’s efforts to fulfill his key campaign promise to forgive student debt.
The forgiveness was originally set to be provided on July 1, with every $1,000 above $12,000 borrowed eligible to be forgiven after an additional year of payments.
Biden on Friday said that 6.9 million borrowers have already enrolled in the plan, more than double the enrollment of the previous plan, and encouraged others who may be eligible to sign up.
“Today’s announcement builds on all we’ve been able to achieve for students and student loan borrowers in the past few years,” Biden said.
“In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision on our student debt relief plan, we are continuing to pursue an alternative path to deliver student debt relief to as many borrowers as possible as quickly as possible.”
