The U.S. Department of Education's Borrower Defense Loan Discharge program is set to forgive the federal student debt of nearly 85,000 individuals who were either misled by their schools or did not receive a quality education. This initiative aims to provide relief to students who attended institutions owned by the Center for Excellence in Higher Education, including Independence University and California College San Diego, as well as Drake College of Business and Lincoln Technical Institute.
In addition, the Education Department announced that 61,000 federal student loan borrowers with a total and permanent disability will receive $2.5 billion in debt forgiveness. This round of relief includes borrowers who were automatically approved for debt erasure through data matches with the U.S. Social Security Administration and the Department of Veteran Affairs.
Furthermore, the Education Department granted loan forgiveness to 6,100 borrowers under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, totaling $465 million. This program, signed into law by former President George W. Bush in 2007, allows employees of the government and certain not-for-profit entities to have federal student loans discharged after 10 years of on-time payments.
The Biden administration has made efforts to broaden eligibility for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and allow individuals to reapply for relief if they were working in the public sector and making payments towards their debt. Borrowers can utilize the PSLF help tool to search for qualifying employers and access the employer certification form on the studentaid.gov website.
Overall, these initiatives aim to provide financial relief to borrowers who have been burdened by student loan debt and ensure that they receive the support they need to move forward. Eligible borrowers will receive the aid automatically, even if they did not apply for it.