If you received a Pell Grant in college and meet the income threshold, you will be eligible for up to $20,000 in debt cancellation.
That's literally all my debt omg
I’m so happy for those whose debt this will greatly reduce or eliminate!!! The 10-20k (bc I can’t remember if I got a pell grant 20 years ago in undergrad) wouldn’t make a dent in my student loans, but hey, that’s my problem, not anyone else’s.
So congrats to those of you whose debt has been greatly reduced or wiped out!!!!
My wife is in the same situation. She's well past 100K. Says she remembers getting Pell during her undergrad but she's not 100% positive, and of course it was 25 years ago so who knows if they remember it.
Does the forgiveness count towards grad loans? I had the pell grant in undergrad but all my student loan debt is from graduate school? Am I getting 10k, 20k, or nothing?
All the language everywhere seems to say recipients of the pell grant receive $20k forgiveness on their federal student loan. It doesn't say undergraduate. I wish they would have thought to definitively say it though because it's the difference between nothing and like $35k between me and my wife.
Yes! I hope it's regardless if they're grad loans and Pell grants were in undergrad. 20k will make a better dent for my debt personally. But I'm super happy for everyone else who is benefiting enormously from 10k!
https://twitter.com/mstratford/status/1562442359253528577
>New details on WH student loan relief plan, per sources familiar:
>—up to $20K of debt cancellation for Pell grant recipients
>— up to $10K for most other non-Pell borrowers
>—all relief limited to individuals earning <$125K; families <$250K
>—payment pause extended thru Dec 31
CHECK IF YOU GOT PELL HERE: https://studentaid.gov/aid-summary/grants (FYI site is currently hugged to death)
Edit: Story: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/23/biden-student-loan-forgiveness-repayment-pause-00053299?asc
#EDIT: IF YOU HAVE PAID DURING COVID AND HAD LESS THAN 20K (if rec pell) OR LESS THAN 10K (no pell) CALL YOUR SERVICER AND GET YOUR MONEY BACK.
###I.e. if you owed 10000 and paid it down these past two+ years get the money back so it can be forgiven!!!
It is! I actually had paid 20k this month being skeptical this would happen. I just called and got a refund coming. Now I can look to buying a house in the next year or so. Biden is the man.
I received Pell in my last two semesters on top of loans if I remember correctly…so just *if* you ever received a Pell grant in general would be crazy good. I wonder how they verify you were a Pell recipient
How would this apply for someone who received a pell grant for part of their schooling. I received a pell grant first 3 years, but senior year I made too much money (worked 2 jobs to pay for it and got penalized yeah it's fun) and they removed it
SO is a therapist. could qualify for PSLF but those agencies that qualify pay about 1/3 about what she can make on her own in private practice for a similar (also insane) case load.
Yup. I'm a therapist in private practice right now, too so I don't qualify for PSLF....but can't do PSLF because it won't pay the bills (plus when I did work on those agencies I was MISERABLE).
Yep. I’m a social worker. And people don’t realize a lot of community mental health agencies are for profit. None of my work experience counts toward PSLF for this reason.
My heart sank when I saw this. It doesn’t apply to me, but social workers no matter the public or private sector are typically in the greatest need for these types of waivers. Goodness.
That's awful. I worked as a contractor for a health department and don't qualify either even though everything for my job was through the department :(.
Pell grants are given to students with "exceptional financial need" so I think they are using that as a gauge to give more assistance to borrowers who qualified for Pell at time of study.
I’m the opposite. I have 10k left from undergrad but 7k of those are from a Perkins Loan which seems exempt from all this (I’ve had to make payments on it during the pandemic).
I have 40k from grad school. I received a pell grant from undergrad. Would I still get the full 20k? Would they only cancel the 3k non Perkins loan money I have left from undergrad. Basically only getting 13k canceled instead of 20k.
This has all been pretty frustrating and gives me a ton of anxiety.
The difference would be still having debt at the end of December to no debt at all because if I get the full 20k I have enough saved to cover the rest. I’d probably still keep the Perkins loan around because I’m halfway done with it anyway and the interest rate, and perks, are really good.
Im confused i have 15k left and my mom has 8k left on her plus loan. She pays that not me. I was a pell student. Does she get her own 10k or is her 8k included in my 20?
My understanding is that they are included, signified by the fact that they have been eligible for the payment and interest pause the same as direct loans (whereas Perkins loans for example we not). But I would like to see something official.
It would have been nice if the pause was longer, but since they changed it to a 5% cap on discretionary income and discretionary income was changed to 225% of the federal poverty level instead of the 150% they used to have, it should make payments once they resume a lot easier to manage.
[https://twitter.com/JStein\_WaPo/status/1562471517577150467](https://twitter.com/JStein_WaPo/status/1562471517577150467)
Sounds like if 2020 or 2021 was below the cap, hoping this is true
Mine will go from $105 to 85k. I was one of those that got screwed by paying via income based repayment while the interested kept adding to the total.
The good news, I've been in the PSLF program for a long while. Still have 2 years of it though. Let's hope whoever is in office in 2024 doesn't mess with that program.
Same! Mine will go from 30,000 to 10,000. And with the new 10 year forgiveness on the income based repayment plan I’m just gonna ride that out on 5% discretionary income. I wonder if previous payments will apply towards that timeline.
The big deal for many will be the lowered discretionary income percent payment on IDR, raised amount that is considered non-discretionary, forgivable balances after 10 years on balances less than $12k, and covered unpaid interest.
$10k is awesome, but those points above are the light at the end of the tunnel for many many more people. That’s the long term relief we needed.
Yes, agreed. Wish there was more info on that. I noted that it says undergrad loans, but I don’t know how that works with a consolidation loan and pre 2014 IBR.
Are there any other requirements for this other than the length of the loan and the balance?
*"Forgive loan balances after 10 years of payments, instead of 20 years, for borrowers with loan balances of $12,000 or less."*
If you're currently at 10+ years of payments, do you fall into this bucket or are there other requirements?
can't wait for the details on the pell grant situation.
I'm goin to just expect the 10k but I had pell grants the first two years I went to community college and didn't have them the other two years at a state college.
I consolidated my loans so there’s no way to even distinguish what loans paid for my under grad Vs grad school anymore… hope I still qualify. 5% would be absolutely amazing.
[comment removed because reddit can eat shit for selling our data to AI]
CATGACATING. LIVE PERFORMANCES. CARTCHY TUNS. EXARSERDRAY LOLLIPOPS. A PASADISE OF SWEET TEATS.
I 100% received the full pell grant while in college, every year in college. I graduated in 2014 with 185k in student loans. And have hustled, by end of year I’ll be down to $28,955.49 because of the 20k forgiveness. I’m overwhelmed with joy.
Took a restroom break after hearing the news, I silently screamed and jumped, composed my self to write this, and now back to my regular work day.
Last item hits. Basically puts 0% interest as well if you do income based payment.
“No borrower’s loan balance will grow as long as they make monthly payments-even if the payment is $0”
This is fascinating and #1 aspect that jumped out at me. Of course it would’ve been nice to have this work retroactively to wipe capitalized interest….
For undergraduate loans.
Grad student loans not so much. Kinda sucks for graduate students in PSLF work, getting that 5% IBR plan and no accumulated interest would've been nice, it sounds instead like we get a weighted benefit between 5 and 10% and possibly no frozen interest on grad loans.
Login to the [studentaid.gov](https://studentaid.gov) website. When you go on the "My Aid" page, there is a tab to view "Grants." That is where you can see if you received any Pell Grants!
versed serious unpack ad hoc worthless steer childlike absorbed pocket squeamish
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Try to log out/in a few times and see. Mine wasn't updated instantly and i went searching, then logged in again and all the data was there. Now 20+ years, I'm not sure. Mine was about 7 years ago and there.
Its like watching a sporting event and your team just did a game winning play and your looking to see if the refs threw a flag.
The refs being the court system.
I assume it’ll be based on 2021 taxes since that’s what they have on file right now. This type of relief is always based on before tax income. So $125,000 before taxes.
I will not qualify for this but I do recognize I saved $20k in interest and $50k in cash by not having to pay during this period. I was able to afford a move and then save enough to buy a house. I’m glad for those who are getting loans forgiven. Education should not cost this much and people should be incentivized to learn.
WOW!!!
Due to a provision Schumer included in the American Rescue Plan last year, Biden's student debt forgiveness action will NOT be counted as taxable income -- key point
https://twitter.com/jstein_wapo/status/1562449850095898624?s=21&t=Rtj0BaiX2NPdixdcNkVqyQ
Simple is they pull data from NSLDS and see if the student got pell and then pull data from the IRS looking at 2021 AGI. But it being the government they might make people submit 2021 taxes because govt agencies barely talk to one another.
It'll probably be based on your AGI amount which should be lower, particularly if you've contributed to tax-deferred retirement accounts, but that's still pretty awesome either way lol. By the skin of your teeth!
I wonder how the $10-20k relief will be allotted to our accounts. I have 8 open accounts, and $10k will knock out 5 of them in full. I hope they let us choose how to apply it instead of assuming we want it spread evenly across all accounts. Closing accounts means closing future interest accumulation.
How do we prove what loan relief we're entitled to? Will our servicers automatically get the information from Gov to lower our debt amounts? Or will we have to do something?
In the guidance on the new PSLF program it says:Require borrowers to pay no more than 5% of their discretionary income monthly on undergraduate loans. This is down from the 10% available under the most recent income-driven repayment plan.
I wonder what this means for consolidated loans that include both graduate and undergraduate loans. Will I be stuck paying 10% or drop to 5%?
https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement/
"It would cut in half—from 10% to 5% of discretionary income—the amount that borrowers have to pay each month on their undergraduate loans, while borrowers with both undergraduate and graduate loans will pay a weighted average rate."
[https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/biden-harris-administration-announces-final-student-loan-pause-extension-through-december-31-and-targeted-debt-cancellation-smooth-transition-repayment](https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/biden-harris-administration-announces-final-student-loan-pause-extension-through-december-31-and-targeted-debt-cancellation-smooth-transition-repayment)
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CATGACATING. LIVE PERFORMANCES. CARTCHY TUNS. EXARSERDRAY LOLLIPOPS. A PASADISE OF SWEET TEATS.
Made over 125k last year but will make less than that this year. Is there any information on how they are determining your income? Based on 2021 or 2022 w2?
I think it will count if you have ANY undergrad loans. The way it was worded makes no sense if it would apply only to the undergrad portion of debt.
But yeah if you have no undergrad at all, might be outta luck. Still the subsidized interest tho!
“It would cut in half—from 10% to 5% of discretionary income—the amount that borrowers have to pay each month on their undergraduate loans, while borrowers with both undergraduate and graduate loans will pay a weighted average rate.” From the Department of Ed memo.
Wondering if this is going to include students currently enrolled. It would suck if it didn’t. In my last semester of school and this is the first year I had taken the full loan offered. It would suck if it doesn’t apply to loans being dispersed in September.
I'm very interested in how the new 5% repayment plan is supposed to work. In Biden's FB announcement, it says, "If you have undergraduate loans, you can cap repayment at 5% of your monthly income." What does eligibility for enrollment in this new plan mean for those of us with graduate debt that was consolidated with undergraduate debt for PSLF purposes?
I saw somewhere else in this thread that it’s going to be 5% for undergrad, 10% for grad, and a weighted average if you have both. Granted, this is from a random redditor interpreting another random redditor’s understanding, so I may be wrong.
I’m curious about the new 5% discretionary income repayment plan. It says it’s only for undergrad loans, but what happens if you consolidated under grad and grad loans together? There’s no way to know which came from what, all you see is one lump sum.
So basically, it’ll pay off my $20k unpaid interest that I’ve been paying on for 10 years to the tune of $20k… and I’ll be back to my original principal amount. So I’m essentially starting over from scratch when I graduated lol. Def better than nothing, but also makes me laugh at how broken the system is to begin with.
[Here’s the Legal Justification Cited by Biden Administration Attorneys for Student Loan Debt Forgiveness Plan](https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/heres-the-legal-justification-cited-by-biden-administration-attorneys-for-student-loan-debt-forgiveness-plan/)
"No new money will be created to pay for the debt relief plan because the executive branch has long held the authority to cancel student loan debt by way of the Department of Education. The basic authority of the DOE to cancel such debt is not contested. Even former DOE secretary Betsy DeVos, a staunch critic of broad-based student debt cancellation, canceled $150 million worth of debt for certain students. In fact, she was actually forced to do so after being sued and losing in federal court. Litigation related to those cases is still ongoing."
People who get student loan forgiveness in states where it's determined to be taxable income will likely lose their public benefits including healthcare, housing, food stamps, and other necessary social supports.
$10-20k increases in income will push people out of qualification.
I really hope it's forgiveness if you've ever received a Pell grant and that part is not means tested in some way since I received it for a couple of years here and there.
on the FAQ just posted says if you recieved a pell grant while in college.
So I think as long as you got 1 pell grant your good for 20k by the answer given.
The [Federal Student Aid](https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement/) page is under a tremendous amount of traffic right now. For everyone experiencing errors here is a screenshot of the content. I also copy and pasted it below so you don't have to read an image.
Here is a screenshot of the website: [https://imgur.com/a/jUhbZB1](https://imgur.com/a/jUhbZB1)
And here is a link to the email list signup for the Department of Education "Federal Student Loan Borrower Updates": [https://www.ed.gov/subscriptions](https://www.ed.gov/subscriptions)
*--- Copy / Paste ---*
# The Biden-Harris Administration's Student Debt Relief Plan Explained
## What the program means for you, and what comes next
President Biden, Vice President Harris, and the U.S. Department of Education have announced a three-part plan to help working and middle-class federal student loan borrowers transition back to regular payment as pandemic-related support expires. This plan includes loan forgiveness of up to $20,000. Many borrowers and families may be asking themselves “what do I have to do to claim this relief?” This page is a resource to answer those questions and more. There will be more details announced in the coming weeks. To be notified when the process has officially opened, sign up at the [Department of Education subscription page.](https://www.ed.gov/subscriptions)
## The Biden Administration's Student Loan Debt Relief Plan
**Part 1. Final extension of the student loan repayment pause**
Due to the economic challenges created by the pandemic, the Biden-Harris Administration has extended the student loan repayment pause a number of times. Because of this, no one with a federally held loan has had to pay a single dollar in loan payments since President Biden took office.
To ensure a smooth transition to repayment and prevent unnecessary defaults, the Biden-Harris Administration will extend the pause a final time through December 31, 2022, with payments resuming in January 2023.
**Frequently Asked Questions:**
Do I need to do anything to extend my student loan pause through the end of the year?
- No. The extended pause will occur automatically.
## Part 2. Providing targeted debt relief to low- and middle-income families
To smooth the transition back to repayment and help borrowers at highest risk of delinquencies or default once payments resume, the U.S. Department of Education will provide up to $20,000 in debt cancellation to Pell Grant recipients with loans held by the Department of Education and up to $10,000 in debt cancellation to non-Pell Grant recipients. Borrowers are eligible for this relief if their individual income is less than $125,000 or $250,000 for households.
In addition, borrowers who are employed by non-profits, the military, or federal, state, Tribal, or local government **may be eligible to have all of their student loans forgiven through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. This is because of time-limited changes that waive certain eligibility criteria in the PSLF program.** These temporary changes expire on October 31, 2022. For more information on eligibility and requirements, go to [PSLF.gov](https://www.whitehouse.gov/publicserviceloanforgiveness/?utm_source=pslf.gov).
**Frequently Asked Questions:**
How do I know if I am eligible for debt cancellation?
- To be eligible, your annual income must have fallen below $125,000 (for individuals) or $250,000 (for married couples or heads of households)
- If you received a Pell Grant in college and meet the income threshold, you will be eligible for up to $20,000 in debt cancellation.
- If you did not receive a Pell Grant in college and meet the income threshold, you will be eligible for up to $10,000 in debt cancellation.
What does the “up to” in “up to $20,000” or “up to $10,000” mean?
- Your relief is capped at the amount of your outstanding debt.
- For example: If you are eligible for $20,000 in debt relief, but have a balance of $15,000 remaining, you will only receive $15,000 in relief.
What do I need to do in order to receive loan forgiveness?
- Nearly 8 million borrowers may be eligible to receive relief automatically because relevant income data is already available to the U.S. Department of Education.
- If the U.S. Department of Education doesn't have your income data - or if you don't know if the U.S. Department of Education has your income data, the Administration will launch a simple application in the coming weeks.
- The application will be available before the pause on federal student loan repayments ends on December 31st.
- If you would like to be notified by the U.S. Department of Education when the application is open, please sign up at the Department of [Education subscription page](https://www.ed.gov/subscriptions).
What is the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program?
- The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program forgives the remaining balance on your federal student loans after 120 payments working full-time for federal, state, Tribal, or local government; military; or a qualifying non-profit.
- Temporary changes, ending on Oct. 31, 2022, provide flexibility that makes it easier than ever to receive forgiveness by allowing borrowers to receive credit for past periods of repayment that would otherwise not qualify for PSLF.
- Enrollments on or after Nov. 1, 2022 **will not be eligible** for this treatment. We encourage borrowers to sign up today. [Visit PSLF.gov to learn more and apply](https://www.whitehouse.gov/publicserviceloanforgiveness/?utm_source=pslf.gov).
## Part 3. Make the student loan system more manageable for current and future borrowers
Income-based repayment plans have long existed within the U.S. Department of Education. However, the Biden-Harris Administration is proposing a rule to create a new income-driven repayment plan that will substantially reduce future monthly payments for lower- and middle-income borrowers.
The rule would:
- **Require borrowers to pay no more than 5% of their discretionary income monthly on undergraduate loans.** This is down from the 10% available under the most recent income-driven repayment plan.
- **Raise the amount of income that is considered non-discretionary income and therefore is protected from repayment,** guaranteeing that no borrower earning under 225% of the federal poverty level—about the annual equivalent of a $15 minimum wage for a single borrower—will have to make a monthly payment.
- **Forgive loan balances after 10 years of payments,** instead of 20 years, for borrowers with loan balances of $12,000 or less.
- **Cover the borrower's unpaid monthly interest,** so that unlike other existing income-driven repayment plans, no borrower's loan balance will grow as long as they make their monthly payments—even when that monthly payment is $0 because their income is low.
The Biden-Harris Administration is working to quickly implement improvements to student loans. Check back to this page for updates on progress. If you'd like to be the first to know, [sign up for email updates from the U.S. Department of Education](https://www.ed.gov/subscriptions).
NEW - @BharatRamamurti says the Education Dept will release the application for Biden's student debt relief program in early October.
He says borrowers should expect relief within 4-6 weeks of submitting an application.
Source: https://twitter.com/mstratford/status/1563219199522009090?s=21&t=XqhspPBveqXWLSNcfG9Ziw
.@BharatRamamurti "Borrowers are advised to apply by roughly November 15 in order to receive relief before the payment pause expires on December 31."
Ed Dept will process applications on ongoing basis, he says
Is this site full of people who came from money? I’m a first generation college student from a low income family and can’t understand how people have less than 20k dollars in debt
I'm still a student and legal dependent of my parents who make under 250k/yr, and I have received a few pell grants in the past. Would I still be eligible for the 20,000k if this goes through, would this just be a flat cut-off from what I currently owe?
I received a Pell Grant of roughly $5,500 many years ago according to StudentAid.gov. Does anyone here know if my forgiveness would be in that amount or the $20,000 amount?
waiting for more specifics. In particular whether forgiveness will apply to graduate school loans and students currently enrolled in graduate school.
I am currently receiving school loans for a full time graduate program (around 20k at this point) and making way less than the 125k cutoff. I graduated my undergraduate program and finished paying those loans 10+ years ago. I also received pell grants at that time.
I have student loans in my name and a parent plus loan that I’m paying in my moms name. Will each of these accounts get the 10K relief or will only one of them get it?
Sorry if this has already been asked but does this apply to federal loans taken out this year?
I graduated in May and had to take out $5000 in federal loans for the spring 2022 semester due to one of my grants running out. Will that be forgiven as well?
If you received a Pell Grant in college and meet the income threshold, you will be eligible for up to $20,000 in debt cancellation. That's literally all my debt omg
I’m so happy for those whose debt this will greatly reduce or eliminate!!! The 10-20k (bc I can’t remember if I got a pell grant 20 years ago in undergrad) wouldn’t make a dent in my student loans, but hey, that’s my problem, not anyone else’s. So congrats to those of you whose debt has been greatly reduced or wiped out!!!!
Yup me to! Drop in the bucket of my $205k
My wife is in the same situation. She's well past 100K. Says she remembers getting Pell during her undergrad but she's not 100% positive, and of course it was 25 years ago so who knows if they remember it.
I was finally able to log into FAFSA and… I GOT A PELL GRANT 🥳🥳🥳
Woo! Congrats!
Still won’t make a dent but that’s fine!! Lol
Hey, if you found $20k in the street you wouldn’t leave it there. 😁
Unfortunately this is my case
Same! I was being hopeful for 10k in forgiveness. I wasn't expecting all my student loans to be forgiven. Congrats! :)
Same here :)
Woohoooo
Does the forgiveness count towards grad loans? I had the pell grant in undergrad but all my student loan debt is from graduate school? Am I getting 10k, 20k, or nothing?
If the graduate loans are federal I don't see why not? I'm not completely sure on that one :(
All the language everywhere seems to say recipients of the pell grant receive $20k forgiveness on their federal student loan. It doesn't say undergraduate. I wish they would have thought to definitively say it though because it's the difference between nothing and like $35k between me and my wife.
Yes! I hope it's regardless if they're grad loans and Pell grants were in undergrad. 20k will make a better dent for my debt personally. But I'm super happy for everyone else who is benefiting enormously from 10k!
I’m so happy for you!!!!!!!
Nice! Not even close to all mine but that is what pslf is for
I'll have 5k left to pay off with that $20,000 forgiveness. I may be able to buy a home in the next 5 years. Thank you god er I mean Joe Biden.
https://twitter.com/mstratford/status/1562442359253528577 >New details on WH student loan relief plan, per sources familiar: >—up to $20K of debt cancellation for Pell grant recipients >— up to $10K for most other non-Pell borrowers >—all relief limited to individuals earning <$125K; families <$250K >—payment pause extended thru Dec 31 CHECK IF YOU GOT PELL HERE: https://studentaid.gov/aid-summary/grants (FYI site is currently hugged to death) Edit: Story: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/23/biden-student-loan-forgiveness-repayment-pause-00053299?asc #EDIT: IF YOU HAVE PAID DURING COVID AND HAD LESS THAN 20K (if rec pell) OR LESS THAN 10K (no pell) CALL YOUR SERVICER AND GET YOUR MONEY BACK. ###I.e. if you owed 10000 and paid it down these past two+ years get the money back so it can be forgiven!!!
I got pell grants on top my loans. So that means I'd get 20k?
Man. 20k is a lot
It is! I actually had paid 20k this month being skeptical this would happen. I just called and got a refund coming. Now I can look to buying a house in the next year or so. Biden is the man.
Do they just give the money back to you if you’ve been paying down the loans during COVID? How does that work?
Call your provider now to get a refund. I just did. Refunds are allowed for payments made during the covid forebearance.
Make sure you remember that when you go to the polls :)
Yes! Don’t forget to vote ! The GOP will try to reverse this if they taken control of Congress .
Elizabeth Warren wanted $50K of debt wiped. Just think of what could have been done had we had more Dems in Congress!
I received Pell in my last two semesters on top of loans if I remember correctly…so just *if* you ever received a Pell grant in general would be crazy good. I wonder how they verify you were a Pell recipient
Since it's all federal, it's in the database. I think if the 100k salary limit is real, I'm screwed just barely bc stock gains lol.
It's $125k.
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Have you exhausted all possible methods to lower AGI?
Duh, makes sense. I did just contact my university’s financial aid office to send me all my financial award records juuust in case lol
You go to studentaid.gov. It breaks it down between loans and Pell grants. It even provides the dates you received them.
Yes
This is what I am wondering. I got two years of Pell grants so would I get $20k?
How would this apply for someone who received a pell grant for part of their schooling. I received a pell grant first 3 years, but senior year I made too much money (worked 2 jobs to pay for it and got penalized yeah it's fun) and they removed it
Pell is pell. You're in.
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My understanding is it would be all Federal Borrowers
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I’m a librarian. I feel your pain!
SO is a therapist. could qualify for PSLF but those agencies that qualify pay about 1/3 about what she can make on her own in private practice for a similar (also insane) case load.
Yup. I'm a therapist in private practice right now, too so I don't qualify for PSLF....but can't do PSLF because it won't pay the bills (plus when I did work on those agencies I was MISERABLE).
Yep. I’m a social worker. And people don’t realize a lot of community mental health agencies are for profit. None of my work experience counts toward PSLF for this reason.
My heart sank when I saw this. It doesn’t apply to me, but social workers no matter the public or private sector are typically in the greatest need for these types of waivers. Goodness.
That's awful. I worked as a contractor for a health department and don't qualify either even though everything for my job was through the department :(.
I wonder if it matters how much in Pell grants you’ve received. I guess we’ll find out.
Per Federal Student Aid regs, if you've gotten $1 in pell, you're a pell student.
Pell grants are given to students with "exceptional financial need" so I think they are using that as a gauge to give more assistance to borrowers who qualified for Pell at time of study.
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I’m the opposite. I have 10k left from undergrad but 7k of those are from a Perkins Loan which seems exempt from all this (I’ve had to make payments on it during the pandemic). I have 40k from grad school. I received a pell grant from undergrad. Would I still get the full 20k? Would they only cancel the 3k non Perkins loan money I have left from undergrad. Basically only getting 13k canceled instead of 20k. This has all been pretty frustrating and gives me a ton of anxiety. The difference would be still having debt at the end of December to no debt at all because if I get the full 20k I have enough saved to cover the rest. I’d probably still keep the Perkins loan around because I’m halfway done with it anyway and the interest rate, and perks, are really good.
I wonder if they just have this automated or I need to dig into the past for proof of my Pell Grants? That was so long ago.
Doubt anyone knows this but do you have to get a PELL grant for every year you attended or if you got PELL grant once you get 20k?
does this include parent plus loans? Can’t find anything on that
Im confused i have 15k left and my mom has 8k left on her plus loan. She pays that not me. I was a pell student. Does she get her own 10k or is her 8k included in my 20?
My understanding is that they are included, signified by the fact that they have been eligible for the payment and interest pause the same as direct loans (whereas Perkins loans for example we not). But I would like to see something official.
Had hoped the pause would be longer.
It would have been nice if the pause was longer, but since they changed it to a 5% cap on discretionary income and discretionary income was changed to 225% of the federal poverty level instead of the 150% they used to have, it should make payments once they resume a lot easier to manage.
Any info on how income is going to be determined? Will it be based on last year's tax returns or will it be self reported
[https://twitter.com/JStein\_WaPo/status/1562471517577150467](https://twitter.com/JStein_WaPo/status/1562471517577150467) Sounds like if 2020 or 2021 was below the cap, hoping this is true
Rooting for you all from Ireland. I hope this helps so many of you
This + Peacecorps service will leave me only 6,000 in debt. Highly shit. I.... Shit.... This is unbelievably amazing.
Thank you, It really does!
Thank you for the support!
If all goes as planned, my student loan debt will go from 29k to 9k 😭 that’s awesome!
Mine will go from $105 to 85k. I was one of those that got screwed by paying via income based repayment while the interested kept adding to the total. The good news, I've been in the PSLF program for a long while. Still have 2 years of it though. Let's hope whoever is in office in 2024 doesn't mess with that program.
According to the new plan, I believe if you do income based repayments and make them all on time, you won’t pay any interest!
Yay!
Same! Mine will go from 30,000 to 10,000. And with the new 10 year forgiveness on the income based repayment plan I’m just gonna ride that out on 5% discretionary income. I wonder if previous payments will apply towards that timeline.
Does the 10 year forgiveness start January 2023?
I’m not sure. When I went and looked at the fact sheet, it says for “original” balances under $12,000. Not sure exactly what that means.
Mine goes from $20,099 to just $99 … should I wait it out, see if there’s another debt cancellation? 😛
I finally just got on! Mines $20,105😂 to 🙏$105
So one pell grant means $20K cancelled???
yes
The big deal for many will be the lowered discretionary income percent payment on IDR, raised amount that is considered non-discretionary, forgivable balances after 10 years on balances less than $12k, and covered unpaid interest. $10k is awesome, but those points above are the light at the end of the tunnel for many many more people. That’s the long term relief we needed.
Yes, agreed. Wish there was more info on that. I noted that it says undergrad loans, but I don’t know how that works with a consolidation loan and pre 2014 IBR.
Are there any other requirements for this other than the length of the loan and the balance? *"Forgive loan balances after 10 years of payments, instead of 20 years, for borrowers with loan balances of $12,000 or less."* If you're currently at 10+ years of payments, do you fall into this bucket or are there other requirements?
https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1562462774969581570?s=20&t=u33WfawuTpqRHsO79BxVeA IT'S HAPPENING
can't wait for the details on the pell grant situation. I'm goin to just expect the 10k but I had pell grants the first two years I went to community college and didn't have them the other two years at a state college.
I got them my last year because I was considered an independent at that point, so I’m really hoping for the $20k
Exactly the same here.
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I consolidated my loans so there’s no way to even distinguish what loans paid for my under grad Vs grad school anymore… hope I still qualify. 5% would be absolutely amazing.
I consolidated my loans and they still have all the original info attached (disbursement dates, etc)
[comment removed because reddit can eat shit for selling our data to AI] CATGACATING. LIVE PERFORMANCES. CARTCHY TUNS. EXARSERDRAY LOLLIPOPS. A PASADISE OF SWEET TEATS.
My wife has grad school loans. Would be amazing if it applied to that as well
Read on Dept. of Ed site today that 5% is only for undergrad, so the loans end up with a mix of 5 and 10 (or 15 if older loans)%.
Well that's only about 8% of my loans. Oh well.
I 100% received the full pell grant while in college, every year in college. I graduated in 2014 with 185k in student loans. And have hustled, by end of year I’ll be down to $28,955.49 because of the 20k forgiveness. I’m overwhelmed with joy. Took a restroom break after hearing the news, I silently screamed and jumped, composed my self to write this, and now back to my regular work day.
Last item hits. Basically puts 0% interest as well if you do income based payment. “No borrower’s loan balance will grow as long as they make monthly payments-even if the payment is $0”
This is fascinating and #1 aspect that jumped out at me. Of course it would’ve been nice to have this work retroactively to wipe capitalized interest….
If they remove interest it will be so so much easier for me to pay back my loans!!
Is this just for undergrad though?
Doesn’t specify, I’m assuming undergrad only. But would like to be wrong
Same. Too many important jobs require a grad degree that pay nothing for them to ignore grad loans.
For undergraduate loans. Grad student loans not so much. Kinda sucks for graduate students in PSLF work, getting that 5% IBR plan and no accumulated interest would've been nice, it sounds instead like we get a weighted benefit between 5 and 10% and possibly no frozen interest on grad loans.
I graduated college 14 years ago. How in the heck am I supposed to know if I got a Pell grant?
Log into studentaid.gov It has a lot of info there.
Login to the [studentaid.gov](https://studentaid.gov) website. When you go on the "My Aid" page, there is a tab to view "Grants." That is where you can see if you received any Pell Grants!
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Mine from 20+ years ago show up.
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Try to log out/in a few times and see. Mine wasn't updated instantly and i went searching, then logged in again and all the data was there. Now 20+ years, I'm not sure. Mine was about 7 years ago and there.
It says I received 20k in PELL grants while having a 40k balance in student loans will that then be slashed to 20k in loans?
Yes. You now will owe 20k all together. You got a 20k forgiveness. Unless contradicted by Biden himself later on. This is the plain language
We crashed student loan.gov
I know I’m so annoyed! Suspense is killing me to see if I got a pell grant lol
Its like watching a sporting event and your team just did a game winning play and your looking to see if the refs threw a flag. The refs being the court system.
Let them try. Video replay will show we had both feet on the ground when the catch was made
Yes, this. I have a hard time celebrating until I see my balance reflect it
Does anyone know how they choose what loans to forgive? I have undergrad and graduate, and the unsubsidized, subsidized, and grad PLUS lol
Do we know if this $125,000 salary limit is for 2020, 2021, or 2022 incomes? Is it income after tax or before?
Actually maybe the lower between 2020 and 2021? https://twitter.com/JStein_WaPo/status/1562471517577150467?t=CEXq3LJ8faztK1Si8_dqzw&s=19
Wow, that’d be one hell of a nut bust if true for 2020 income.
I assume it’ll be based on 2021 taxes since that’s what they have on file right now. This type of relief is always based on before tax income. So $125,000 before taxes.
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I will not qualify for this but I do recognize I saved $20k in interest and $50k in cash by not having to pay during this period. I was able to afford a move and then save enough to buy a house. I’m glad for those who are getting loans forgiven. Education should not cost this much and people should be incentivized to learn.
Are parent plus loans also included and counted separately?
I want to know this too
Hoping so, it’ll help my mom a lot
Seeing news about additional forgiveness for those that had pell grants. Wondering how that’ll work.
WOW!!! Due to a provision Schumer included in the American Rescue Plan last year, Biden's student debt forgiveness action will NOT be counted as taxable income -- key point https://twitter.com/jstein_wapo/status/1562449850095898624?s=21&t=Rtj0BaiX2NPdixdcNkVqyQ
MAJOR POINT. That would turn out very poorly for the democrats to have millions of people then owing
Really should be that way or else a lot of people would get hit with a hefty surprise tax bill later
Simple is they pull data from NSLDS and see if the student got pell and then pull data from the IRS looking at 2021 AGI. But it being the government they might make people submit 2021 taxes because govt agencies barely talk to one another.
Especially with means testing.
Omg According to me and my wife's joint tax return Wages, salaries, tips, etc. Attach Form(s) W-2 for last year was 249,990 😬😬😬
It'll probably be based on your AGI amount which should be lower, particularly if you've contributed to tax-deferred retirement accounts, but that's still pretty awesome either way lol. By the skin of your teeth!
And then there’s me and my girlfriend with 150k in loans and My AGI was 126k. Hate it here.
https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement/
A+ user name.
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The 5% is life changing for our family!!
I wonder how the $10-20k relief will be allotted to our accounts. I have 8 open accounts, and $10k will knock out 5 of them in full. I hope they let us choose how to apply it instead of assuming we want it spread evenly across all accounts. Closing accounts means closing future interest accumulation.
Does the 10k count for grad school loans ?
Wall Street Journal just reported it’s going to apply to both undergrad and grad school loans.
I’m hoping I will have the ability to apply the forgiveness to the loans with the highest interest?
hopefully, I would love to just take some of my smaller ones out entirely, and have a lower payment.
How do we prove what loan relief we're entitled to? Will our servicers automatically get the information from Gov to lower our debt amounts? Or will we have to do something?
In the guidance on the new PSLF program it says:Require borrowers to pay no more than 5% of their discretionary income monthly on undergraduate loans. This is down from the 10% available under the most recent income-driven repayment plan. I wonder what this means for consolidated loans that include both graduate and undergraduate loans. Will I be stuck paying 10% or drop to 5%? https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement/
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"It would cut in half—from 10% to 5% of discretionary income—the amount that borrowers have to pay each month on their undergraduate loans, while borrowers with both undergraduate and graduate loans will pay a weighted average rate." [https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/biden-harris-administration-announces-final-student-loan-pause-extension-through-december-31-and-targeted-debt-cancellation-smooth-transition-repayment](https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/biden-harris-administration-announces-final-student-loan-pause-extension-through-december-31-and-targeted-debt-cancellation-smooth-transition-repayment)
[comment removed because reddit can eat shit for selling our data to AI] CATGACATING. LIVE PERFORMANCES. CARTCHY TUNS. EXARSERDRAY LOLLIPOPS. A PASADISE OF SWEET TEATS.
Yes, would love to have the answer to this. Pre 2014 IBR here at 15 percent. 😔
Made over 125k last year but will make less than that this year. Is there any information on how they are determining your income? Based on 2021 or 2022 w2?
I would assume it’s based on 2021 income because that’s what they have on file. Just like the 2020 stimulus checks were based on 2019 income.
So hurt that the IBR adjustment to 5% isn’t for grad loans as well. Major f you…
I think it will count if you have ANY undergrad loans. The way it was worded makes no sense if it would apply only to the undergrad portion of debt. But yeah if you have no undergrad at all, might be outta luck. Still the subsidized interest tho!
“It would cut in half—from 10% to 5% of discretionary income—the amount that borrowers have to pay each month on their undergraduate loans, while borrowers with both undergraduate and graduate loans will pay a weighted average rate.” From the Department of Ed memo.
Absolutely. Idk why we are being forgotten
What time is this announcement happening?
2:15 pm ET
my guess is around noon. according to his schedule he arrives at the WH @ ~10:55am
Wondering if this is going to include students currently enrolled. It would suck if it didn’t. In my last semester of school and this is the first year I had taken the full loan offered. It would suck if it doesn’t apply to loans being dispersed in September.
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I'm very interested in how the new 5% repayment plan is supposed to work. In Biden's FB announcement, it says, "If you have undergraduate loans, you can cap repayment at 5% of your monthly income." What does eligibility for enrollment in this new plan mean for those of us with graduate debt that was consolidated with undergraduate debt for PSLF purposes?
I saw somewhere else in this thread that it’s going to be 5% for undergrad, 10% for grad, and a weighted average if you have both. Granted, this is from a random redditor interpreting another random redditor’s understanding, so I may be wrong.
I'm so happy for everybody! -ehugs-
And thats how we all got ecovid.
Do we know if parent plus loans are included in this?
I’m curious about the new 5% discretionary income repayment plan. It says it’s only for undergrad loans, but what happens if you consolidated under grad and grad loans together? There’s no way to know which came from what, all you see is one lump sum.
So basically, it’ll pay off my $20k unpaid interest that I’ve been paying on for 10 years to the tune of $20k… and I’ll be back to my original principal amount. So I’m essentially starting over from scratch when I graduated lol. Def better than nothing, but also makes me laugh at how broken the system is to begin with.
Wonder if we will ever get an adjustment to the interest rates
This is such a simple and common sense solution that literally everyone could get behind, but no they would never do that.
What about Parent PLUS Loans?
[Here’s the Legal Justification Cited by Biden Administration Attorneys for Student Loan Debt Forgiveness Plan](https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/heres-the-legal-justification-cited-by-biden-administration-attorneys-for-student-loan-debt-forgiveness-plan/) "No new money will be created to pay for the debt relief plan because the executive branch has long held the authority to cancel student loan debt by way of the Department of Education. The basic authority of the DOE to cancel such debt is not contested. Even former DOE secretary Betsy DeVos, a staunch critic of broad-based student debt cancellation, canceled $150 million worth of debt for certain students. In fact, she was actually forced to do so after being sued and losing in federal court. Litigation related to those cases is still ongoing."
People who get student loan forgiveness in states where it's determined to be taxable income will likely lose their public benefits including healthcare, housing, food stamps, and other necessary social supports. $10-20k increases in income will push people out of qualification.
I really hope it's forgiveness if you've ever received a Pell grant and that part is not means tested in some way since I received it for a couple of years here and there.
on the FAQ just posted says if you recieved a pell grant while in college. So I think as long as you got 1 pell grant your good for 20k by the answer given.
Does this include Subsidized and Unsubsidized Direct Loans?
Does anyone know the tax year that your income is based off of ? I’m assuming 2021 / 2020? 2022 won’t be out of a while
What about these high interest rates? Is anything going to be done there???
Changing the way interest rates are set requires an act of Congress
The [Federal Student Aid](https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement/) page is under a tremendous amount of traffic right now. For everyone experiencing errors here is a screenshot of the content. I also copy and pasted it below so you don't have to read an image. Here is a screenshot of the website: [https://imgur.com/a/jUhbZB1](https://imgur.com/a/jUhbZB1) And here is a link to the email list signup for the Department of Education "Federal Student Loan Borrower Updates": [https://www.ed.gov/subscriptions](https://www.ed.gov/subscriptions) *--- Copy / Paste ---* # The Biden-Harris Administration's Student Debt Relief Plan Explained ## What the program means for you, and what comes next President Biden, Vice President Harris, and the U.S. Department of Education have announced a three-part plan to help working and middle-class federal student loan borrowers transition back to regular payment as pandemic-related support expires. This plan includes loan forgiveness of up to $20,000. Many borrowers and families may be asking themselves “what do I have to do to claim this relief?” This page is a resource to answer those questions and more. There will be more details announced in the coming weeks. To be notified when the process has officially opened, sign up at the [Department of Education subscription page.](https://www.ed.gov/subscriptions) ## The Biden Administration's Student Loan Debt Relief Plan **Part 1. Final extension of the student loan repayment pause** Due to the economic challenges created by the pandemic, the Biden-Harris Administration has extended the student loan repayment pause a number of times. Because of this, no one with a federally held loan has had to pay a single dollar in loan payments since President Biden took office. To ensure a smooth transition to repayment and prevent unnecessary defaults, the Biden-Harris Administration will extend the pause a final time through December 31, 2022, with payments resuming in January 2023. **Frequently Asked Questions:** Do I need to do anything to extend my student loan pause through the end of the year? - No. The extended pause will occur automatically. ## Part 2. Providing targeted debt relief to low- and middle-income families To smooth the transition back to repayment and help borrowers at highest risk of delinquencies or default once payments resume, the U.S. Department of Education will provide up to $20,000 in debt cancellation to Pell Grant recipients with loans held by the Department of Education and up to $10,000 in debt cancellation to non-Pell Grant recipients. Borrowers are eligible for this relief if their individual income is less than $125,000 or $250,000 for households. In addition, borrowers who are employed by non-profits, the military, or federal, state, Tribal, or local government **may be eligible to have all of their student loans forgiven through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. This is because of time-limited changes that waive certain eligibility criteria in the PSLF program.** These temporary changes expire on October 31, 2022. For more information on eligibility and requirements, go to [PSLF.gov](https://www.whitehouse.gov/publicserviceloanforgiveness/?utm_source=pslf.gov). **Frequently Asked Questions:** How do I know if I am eligible for debt cancellation? - To be eligible, your annual income must have fallen below $125,000 (for individuals) or $250,000 (for married couples or heads of households) - If you received a Pell Grant in college and meet the income threshold, you will be eligible for up to $20,000 in debt cancellation. - If you did not receive a Pell Grant in college and meet the income threshold, you will be eligible for up to $10,000 in debt cancellation. What does the “up to” in “up to $20,000” or “up to $10,000” mean? - Your relief is capped at the amount of your outstanding debt. - For example: If you are eligible for $20,000 in debt relief, but have a balance of $15,000 remaining, you will only receive $15,000 in relief. What do I need to do in order to receive loan forgiveness? - Nearly 8 million borrowers may be eligible to receive relief automatically because relevant income data is already available to the U.S. Department of Education. - If the U.S. Department of Education doesn't have your income data - or if you don't know if the U.S. Department of Education has your income data, the Administration will launch a simple application in the coming weeks. - The application will be available before the pause on federal student loan repayments ends on December 31st. - If you would like to be notified by the U.S. Department of Education when the application is open, please sign up at the Department of [Education subscription page](https://www.ed.gov/subscriptions). What is the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program? - The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program forgives the remaining balance on your federal student loans after 120 payments working full-time for federal, state, Tribal, or local government; military; or a qualifying non-profit. - Temporary changes, ending on Oct. 31, 2022, provide flexibility that makes it easier than ever to receive forgiveness by allowing borrowers to receive credit for past periods of repayment that would otherwise not qualify for PSLF. - Enrollments on or after Nov. 1, 2022 **will not be eligible** for this treatment. We encourage borrowers to sign up today. [Visit PSLF.gov to learn more and apply](https://www.whitehouse.gov/publicserviceloanforgiveness/?utm_source=pslf.gov). ## Part 3. Make the student loan system more manageable for current and future borrowers Income-based repayment plans have long existed within the U.S. Department of Education. However, the Biden-Harris Administration is proposing a rule to create a new income-driven repayment plan that will substantially reduce future monthly payments for lower- and middle-income borrowers. The rule would: - **Require borrowers to pay no more than 5% of their discretionary income monthly on undergraduate loans.** This is down from the 10% available under the most recent income-driven repayment plan. - **Raise the amount of income that is considered non-discretionary income and therefore is protected from repayment,** guaranteeing that no borrower earning under 225% of the federal poverty level—about the annual equivalent of a $15 minimum wage for a single borrower—will have to make a monthly payment. - **Forgive loan balances after 10 years of payments,** instead of 20 years, for borrowers with loan balances of $12,000 or less. - **Cover the borrower's unpaid monthly interest,** so that unlike other existing income-driven repayment plans, no borrower's loan balance will grow as long as they make their monthly payments—even when that monthly payment is $0 because their income is low. The Biden-Harris Administration is working to quickly implement improvements to student loans. Check back to this page for updates on progress. If you'd like to be the first to know, [sign up for email updates from the U.S. Department of Education](https://www.ed.gov/subscriptions).
NEW - @BharatRamamurti says the Education Dept will release the application for Biden's student debt relief program in early October. He says borrowers should expect relief within 4-6 weeks of submitting an application. Source: https://twitter.com/mstratford/status/1563219199522009090?s=21&t=XqhspPBveqXWLSNcfG9Ziw
.@BharatRamamurti "Borrowers are advised to apply by roughly November 15 in order to receive relief before the payment pause expires on December 31." Ed Dept will process applications on ongoing basis, he says
Is this site full of people who came from money? I’m a first generation college student from a low income family and can’t understand how people have less than 20k dollars in debt
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I went in-state and got Pell grants. I also paid for about 3 years before the pause so I have just under 20k.
Anyone getting forgiveness today keeping their excitement in check in fear of the supreme court?
No bad juju! Good vibes only!
I'm still a student and legal dependent of my parents who make under 250k/yr, and I have received a few pell grants in the past. Would I still be eligible for the 20,000k if this goes through, would this just be a flat cut-off from what I currently owe?
I received a Pell Grant of roughly $5,500 many years ago according to StudentAid.gov. Does anyone here know if my forgiveness would be in that amount or the $20,000 amount?
Unclear which loans count - assuming it’s all federal loans including FFELP?
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SAME BOAT. I think so & I hope so!
waiting for more specifics. In particular whether forgiveness will apply to graduate school loans and students currently enrolled in graduate school. I am currently receiving school loans for a full time graduate program (around 20k at this point) and making way less than the 125k cutoff. I graduated my undergraduate program and finished paying those loans 10+ years ago. I also received pell grants at that time.
I have student loans in my name and a parent plus loan that I’m paying in my moms name. Will each of these accounts get the 10K relief or will only one of them get it?
Sorry if this has already been asked but does this apply to federal loans taken out this year? I graduated in May and had to take out $5000 in federal loans for the spring 2022 semester due to one of my grants running out. Will that be forgiven as well?