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How To Apply For Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness
Updated On September 14, 2022
Editorial Note: This content is based solely on the author's opinions and is not provided, approved, endorsed or reviewed by any financial institution or partner.
Now that President Joe Biden has announced a major plan to cancel student loans, you may be asking how to apply for Biden’s student loan forgiveness. Last month, Biden announced historic student loan relief, which will cancel nearly $400 million of student loan debt for millions of student loan borrowers.
This includes about 20 million student loan borrowers who will have all their federal student loan debt canceled. However, announcing student loan forgiveness and getting student loan forgiveness aren’t always the same thing.
How do you apply for student loan forgiveness? In this complete guide, you’ll learn how to apply for Biden’s student loan forgiveness:
- How to get $20,000 of student loan cancellation
- How to apply for student loan forgiveness
- When to apply for student loan forgiveness
- Student loans: next steps
How to get $20,000 of student loan cancellation
Before you apply for Biden’s student loan forgiveness program, it’s important to understand how much student loan forgiveness you can get. There are two amounts of student loan forgiveness:
- $10,000 of student loan forgiveness
- $20,000 of student loan forgiveness
To qualify for both levels of student loan relief, you’ll need to meet the following qualifications:
- Federal student loans owned by the U.S. Department of Education; and
- Up to $125,000 of annual income (or up to $250,000 of family income)
The U.S. Department of Education owns most federal student loans, including Direct Loans, Parent PLUS Loans and Grad PLUS Loans. Direct Loans include subsidized and unsubsidized student loans. However, the federal government doesn’t own many FFELP Loans and Perkins Loans, for example.
How do you qualify for $20,000 of student loan forgiveness? If you had a Pell Grant in college, you can qualify for up to $20,000 of student loan relief. Pell Grants are available for families with exceptional financial need. Students apply for Pell Grants by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
How to apply for student loan forgiveness
According to the U.S. Department of Education, an application to get student loan forgiveness will be available by early October. The application should be available online, and you may be asked to certify your income. If the U.S. Department of Education has your income information (e.g., from an income-driven repayment plan), it’s possible that student loan forgiveness may be automatic.
How can you prepare now? You can prepare to get student loan forgiveness by knowing whether you qualify for student loan forgiveness. Contact your student loan servicer to verify your student loan balance and type of student loans. These resources will help you get the information you need:
- Here’s a complete list of all federal student loan servicers phone numbers.
- If you’re unsure who’s your student loan servicer, this will teach you how to find out.
- This complete guide to federal student loan servicers will tell you everything you need to know about your student loan servicer
When to apply for student loan forgiveness
You may be wondering when to apply for student loan forgiveness.
You should apply as soon as the application for student loan forgiveness is available. Remember, federal student loan payments - which have been paused since March 2020 - will restart on January 1, 2023.
Ideally, you should apply before November 15, 2022 to ensure your application is processed before December 31, 2022. Technically, student loan borrowers will have until December 31, 2023 to apply for student loan forgiveness.
However, given the end of the student loan payment pause, it’s advantageous to apply earlier to get up to $20,000 of student loan canceled now.
Student Loans: next steps
The student loan payment pause is ending soon. Are you prepared? Now is the time to implement a plan for student loan repayment.
Interest rates are rising. The economy may enter a recession. Make sure you understand all your options to get a lower student loan payment and lower interest rate.
Here are some of the best ways to take control of your student loans and pay off student loans faster:
- Student loan refinancing (lower interest rate and lower payment)
- Income-driven repayment (lower student loan payment)
- Student loan forgiveness (student loan cancellation)
Refinance With SoFi
