Student loan forgiveness accelerated for some borrowers

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) - A student loan forgiveness plan by the Biden administration will now go into effect sooner than anticipated with some qualifying borrowers seeing their remaining balance wiped out as soon as next month.

This forgiveness plan was originally intended to go into effect in July.

 The program applies to borrowers included in the administration’s ‘SAVE’ plan that was launched after the Supreme Court struck down the administration’s initial student forgiveness plan.

This forgiveness applies to federal student loan borrowers who have a balance of less than $12,000 and have been making payments for at least ten years.

Starting in February, borrowers enrolled in SAVE will be notified if their loans qualify for forgiveness and won’t have to take any other action.

The White House says nearly 7-million borrowers have signed up for the SAVE plan.

In a statement, President Joe Biden said the plan is “part of our ongoing efforts to act as quickly as possible, to give more borrowers breathing room so they can get out from under the burden of student loan debt.

Student loan forgiveness has been a big goal for the Biden administration, but previous efforts have been slowed through Supreme Court rulings and lawsuits by several states.

Following this announcement, some Republicans accused President Biden of trying buy votes ahead of the election and vowed to continue efforts to stop the program.

You can get more information on the Department of Education’s website.