Student-loan borrowers who took out relatively small amounts to attend college and have been paying their debt for at least 10 years could have their loans forgiven as soon as February — as long as they’re on the Biden administration’s new repayment plan, officials announced Friday.
Under the SAVE plan, which the Department of Education launched earlier this year, borrowers who took on $12,000 or less in loans are eligible to have their debt canceled after at least 10 years of payments. Originally, that benefit wasn’t supposed to be available until July, but on Friday, the department said it would start implementing the initiative in February.
Officials didn’t say how many borrowers it would impact, but said they would be identifying the beneficiaries over the next few weeks. Borrowers who took out $12,000 or less, have been in repayment for at least 10 years and who are already enrolled in SAVE won’t have to take any action to receive the relief. The Education Department is also embarking on an outreach and email campaign to encourage borrowers to sign up and potentially take advantage of shortened timeline to forgiveness.
“This action will particularly help community-college borrowers, low-income borrowers, and those struggling to repay their loans,” President Joe Biden said in a statement announcing the initiative. “And, it’s 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, move on with their lives and