Student loan debt forgiveness process is a go ahead by Biden Administration

On Thursday, the Biden administration has kick started its series of efforts towards the program of forgiving student loan debt. The administration will be sending updates on the student loan waiver process through email before the window to apply for the same opens next month.

In August, President Joe Biden had announced his decision of canceling up to $10,000 in student loan debt for individuals who are making less than $125,000 a year or as much as $20,000 for eligible borrowers who are also Pell Grant recipients. This has been dubbed as one of the major wins for Biden administration, especially amid a chaotic series of decisions that have attracted lot of criticism.

CNN was able to obtain an email sent by the Department of Education to Americans who had signed up for updates on student loan forgiveness. The email obtained offered some details on the eligibility and process details. “In October, the US Department of Education will launch a short online application for student debt relief. You won’t need to upload any supporting documents or use your FSA ID to submit your application,” the email said.

It continued, “Once you submit your application, we’ll review it, determine your eligibility for debt relief and work with your loan servicer(s) to process your relief. We’ll contact you if we need any additional information from you.”

“You might be contacted by a company saying they will help you get loan discharge, forgiveness, cancellation, or debt relief for a fee. You never have to pay for help with your federal student aid. Make sure you work only with the US Department of Education and our loan servicers, and never reveal your personal information or account password to anyone,” the email further said.

President Biden’s move to waive off student debt has opened up new rifts both inside his party as well as out. Some supporters have hailed the decision while certain progressives have said that it isn’t much and more could have been done. Furthermore, many Democratic economists have warned that this could worsen rising inflation. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said in a report on Monday that the “cancellation could come at a price of $400 billion”, but also noted that these estimates are quite uncertain.