Student-loan borrowers can expect more debt relief before Biden's term is up, a top White House House official says
- White House's Jeff Zients told Axios that student-loan borrowers can "expect more" debt relief from Biden.
- He said student-debt relief is among Biden's priorities as he finishes his term.
Student-loan forgiveness is among President Joe Biden's key priorities as he finishes out his term, a top White House official said.
Although Vice President Kamala Harris is accepting her nomination as the Democratic presidential candidate this week, White House chief of staff Jeff Zients told Axios that Biden will not let up on his work until he's officially out of office.
According to the Axios interview, Zients highlighted key areas Biden will focus on over the next five months, including continued implementation of the infrastructure bill, protecting reproductive and civil rights, competing with China, and bolstering efforts to lower costs — including via student-loan forgiveness.
"You should expect more on student debt relief," Zients told Axios. "You should expect more on junk fees and anything we can do to make Americans' lives more affordable."
Over the past couple of years, millions of federal student-loan borrowers have faced both progress and setbacks. The Supreme Court blocked Biden's first attempt at broad student-loan forgiveness last summer, and the Education Department is now in the final stages of its second attempt at broader relief.
At the same time, legal challenges have plagued Biden's efforts to launch a more affordable income-driven repayment plan, leaving millions of borrowers in limbo as the legal process plays out. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has vowed to continue the department's efforts to help borrowers, saying in a recent statement that "the Biden-Harris Administration remains committed to delivering as much relief as possible for as many borrowers as possible."
Here's what borrowers are on track for as the year closes out.
What's next for student-debt relief
Over the past year, the Education Department has been implementing one-time account adjustments for borrowers on income-driven repayment plans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness. The adjustments are intended to bring borrowers' payment counts on those programs up to date, allowing many of them to reach the forgiveness threshold.
According to the department, the adjustments will be completed by September 1 and will be automatically applied to borrowers with student loans managed by the Education Department.
Another key program the department hopes to implement this fall is its broader plan for student loan forgiveness using the Higher Education Act of 1965. This plan has been in the works for over a year, requiring the department to go through a series of negotiation sessions with stakeholders and a period of public comment to help craft the final rule.
The department said it plans to implement the relief — expected to benefit over 30 million borrowers — in October, and it includes debt cancellation for borrowers with unpaid interest, those who have been in repayment for at least 20 years, and those who attended schools that left them with too much student debt compared to post-graduation earnings.
Still, the timeline for that relief is uncertain because it will likely face legal challenges that could halt or permanently block the plan.
Lawsuits have also left the fate of relief through Biden's SAVE income-driven repayment plan uncertain. Although thousands of borrowers have already gotten relief through SAVE due to its shorter timeline for forgiveness, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals recently blocked the plan from being implemented.
Biden's Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to allow the plan to progress, but in the meantime, 8 million enrolled borrowers are on forbearance and cannot receive progress toward loan forgiveness as long as the injunction stays in place.