The Biden-Harris Administration recently greenlit the automatic discharge of $39 billion in federal student loans for 804,000 borrowers this summer. Those eligible for this income-driven repayment (IDR) forgiveness won’t need to take any action to benefit from it.
In Louisiana alone, about 15,200 borrowers are set to receive nearly $825 million through IDR forgiveness in the coming weeks. The U.S. Department of Education unveiled state-by-state data on the number of qualified borrowers for automatic loan relief under the improved IDR plans. These changes aim to ensure all borrowers have an accurate count of the monthly payments required for forgiveness.
As of Friday, the Department commenced notifying 804,000 borrowers with a collective sum of $39 billion in federal student loans, set to be automatically discharged in the following weeks. Today’s data reveals the total number of eligible borrowers and the amount available for relief across every state and territory. Since the Biden-Harris Administration took office, more than $116 billion in student loan forgiveness has been approved for over 3.4 million borrowers.
The Department’s Friday announcement is an effort to rectify historical inconsistencies within federal student loan administration. Under previous management, qualifying payments under IDR plans, meant to bring borrowers closer to forgiveness were not correctly accounted for. Depending on their loan type and IDR plan, eligible borrowers can expect forgiveness after accumulating either 20 or 25 years’ worth of qualifying months. The recent announcement follows changes made by the Biden-Harris Administration to payment count adjustments in April 2022.