The White House has unveiled a preliminary set of regulations that could potentially enable millions of borrowers nationwide to obtain student debt relief. If this initiative is implemented, it would mean that over 30 million borrowers have benefited from student loan relief under a program led by President Joe Biden, which has already facilitated $153 billion in debt forgiveness for 4.3 million borrowers.
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said, "Today's announcement shows that the Biden-Harris Administration is continuing to fulfill our promises to fix a broken higher education system. Student loan forgiveness isn't only about relief for today's borrowers. It's about social mobility, economic prosperity and creating an America that lives up to its highest ideals."
According to a news release from the Department of Education, the proposal will be published in the Federal Register on April 17. The department will then accept comments for 30 days before finalizing the rules with the aim of providing debt relief by autumn.
The news release also reveals that Cardona has formulated nine rules under the Higher Education Act. These include: curbing runaway interest; eradicating student debt for borrowers who entered repayment at least 20 years ago; enabling automatic discharge of debt for borrowers eligible for loan forgiveness under previous schemes; assisting borrowers who enrolled in low-financial-value programs or institutions and introducing a forthcoming rule to aid borrowers experiencing difficulty repaying their loans.
Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal commented, "These distinct forms of debt relief are designed for borrowers struggling with their loans – and that’s a lot of people. There are 25 million borrowers whose interest is growing faster than they can pay it down. That fact alone shows how badly President Biden’s student loan relief is needed."
The news release further states that President Biden has prioritized student loan forgiveness during his term in office. The initiative encompasses securing the largest increase to Pell Grants in ten years and finalizing new rules to safeguard borrowers from career programs that leave graduates with unmanageable debts or insufficient earnings.
