“Your student loans have been forgiven.”
Hundreds of thousands of federal student loan borrowers have begun to receive that emailed message as the Biden administration moves forward on its promise to cancel $39 billion in federal student loan debt for 804,000 borrowers.
The emails were sent beginning Monday, with the Department of Education estimating it had canceled student loan debt for more than 200,000 borrowers by the end of the day, ABC News reports. The remainder of the 804,000 borrowers will be notified in the coming weeks.
Of those 804,000 borrowers, about 37,000 are Ohioans who will receive a combined $1.7 billion in loan forgiveness.
The student loan forgiveness is the result of the Biden administration’s “fix” to income-driven repayment (IDR) plan payments that were previously unaccounted for, ensuring all borrowers have an accurate count of their monthly payments required to qualify for forgiveness. Borrowers eligible for forgiveness include those who have accumulated either 20 or 25 years’ worth of qualifying monthly payments, according to the Department of Education.
Borrowers who will receive emails notifications of their canceled student loans include those with Direct Loans or Federal Family Loans held by the Department, including Parent Plus Loans of either type.
The Department’s action to cancel $39 billion in student loans for 804,000 borrowers is in response to the Supreme Court’s decision to reject the Biden administration’s plan to erase $400 billion in student loan debt for millions of Americans.
Ohio college graduates, specifically, have the 19th highest student loan debt in the country, averaging $30,047 in 2019, a 3.8% increase from 2018.
For borrowers who won’t have their student loans forgiven under this plan, they can apply for the Saving on A Valuable Education (SAVE) program introduced by the Biden administration in July. The SAVE program reduces many borrowers’ monthly payments by half and some to even make $0 monthly payments, according to a news release from the Department.
