Students with huge debts acquired during their educational journey can breathe a sigh of relief as the US government has decided to cancel the student loans of $1.2 billion. The total student debt erasure under the Biden administration has reached $138 billion and relieved 3.9 million students spiraling in debt.
Biden’s promise
The education secretary said that students who had been paying for a decade and had low balances needed this waiver, which the Government is providing as part of loan forgiveness. The administration has vowed to continue to cancel student debt in the future as well.
The relief from student loans will help several people who will now have funds to support themselves and move ahead in life with families. They can get a home for themselves without having to think about the mounting debt. This waiver is one of the biggest policy wins for Biden’s administration and is touted to be part of the 2024 presidential election campaign.
Eligibility for waiver
The students favored for loan cancellation need to be part of the SAVE (Savings on a Valuable Education) plan or should have made payments for at least a period of 10 years for the original amount of $12,000 or less for their college education. Those under this plan usually get a waiver after a period of 20 or 25 years, depending on the loan taken for graduate school.
The borrowing for every extra $1000 above $12,000 can get a debt cancellation only when they have to pay another year of payment.
Notifications will be sent out as part of the waiver to students whose loans are canceled, and they won’t have to work on erasing the debt themselves. Those qualifying for the waiver will receive an email from Biden as part of his commitment to tackling the student debt issue.