A student-loan repayment program intended to help vulnerable borrowers 'has failed to do so on all levels,' 116 organizations say

• NPR recently revealed deep flaws with income-driven student-loan repayment plans.
• In light of the findings, over 100 groups urged Biden to reform the plans and provide permanent relief.

Following a stark NPR investigation illuminating the flaws with a popular student-loan repayment program, advocates are ramping up pressure on the president to implement reforms.

On Thursday, 116 organizations, led by the Student Borrower Protection Center, urged Education Secretary Miguel Cardona in a letter to reform the income-driven repayment (IDR) plans. Passed by Congress in 1992, IDR plans were intended to give borrowers affordable debt payments by creating a monthly student-loan payment plan based on a borrower's income and family size. It promised loan forgiveness after 20-25 years on the plan.

But to date, only 32 borrowers — total — have ever qualified for full forgiveness, and NPR's Cory Turner recently revealed in an investigation that flaws with the program are much worse than was publicly known. He found that major student-loan companies were not tracking payments borrowers made to IDR plans, and low-income borrowers were hurt the most by the mismanagement.

In light of those findings, the organizations renewed their calls for Cardona to create an IDR waiver that would make up for past mistakes that hurt borrowers enrolled in IDR plans.

"In short, a program created to help the most vulnerable borrowers has failed to do so on all levels," they wrote. "An IDR waiver is necessary to help rectify past harms done, as student loan borrowers—and, in particular, low-income borrowers and borrowers of color—have been burdened by failures in IDR program administration that created undue financial hardship."

Insider reported in January on the recommendations by the Student Borrower Protection Center, along with the Center for Responsible Lending and the National Consumer Law Center, for an IDR waiver. They suggested the waiver be retroactive, provide relief automatically, and apply to all borrowers who might qualify for IDR.

According to Education Department data, 4.4 million borrowers on IDR plans have been in repayment for 20 years or longer, with flaws in the program keeping them from paying off their debt. A February report from NerdWallet also found those with higher debt loads are more likely to get forgiveness through IDR, but they'll have to pay "exorbitant interest," further stressing the need for reforms to the programs.

In December, President Joe Biden announced reforms to IDR, like temporarily cutting paperwork requirements in the applications, but the groups argued permanent solutions are required to deliver meaningful relief to borrowers — and lawmakers agreed.

"This is an urgent problem in need of real solutions," Sen. Patty Murray said in a statement. "We need one workable IDR plan for all borrowers, and we need to ensure those who have been trapped in repayment for more than 20 years get the debt relief they are owed," she added.