Now that President Biden has announced his plan to forgive $10,000 of student debt for millions of Americans and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients, the obvious question on a lot of people’s minds (other than “Why only $10,000?”) is how to make sure their debt is included in Biden’s plan.
Who Qualifies for Student Loan Forgiveness?
Biden’s plan will forgive up to $10,000 in federal loans (not private loans, unfortunately) for any borrower making less than $125,000 a year ($250,000 for married households). People who went to college on Pell Grants are eligible for up to $20,000.
Also, borrowers who are employed by non-profits, the military, or federal, state, Tribal, or local government might be eligible to have all of their student loans forgiven thanks to Biden’s promise to fix the “broken” Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. If you think you might qualify, check out PSLF.gov.
As far as what “up to” $10 or $20K means, it’s just that the amount a person is eligible for is capped at their balance. So if you have a balance of $8,000, you don’t get to pocket that $2K. A bummer, but reasonable.
How to Sign Up for Student Loan Forgiveness
According to StudentAid.gov, nearly eight million borrowers will be eligible to receive this relief automatically, since the Department of Education already has access to the relevant income data—similar to how if you’d filed a tax return the year before, those COVID-19 stimulus checks probably just…
