Approximately 8 million student loan borrowers who are eligible for automatic loan forgiveness will see their loans discharged beginning Nov. 14, the Department of Education has announced.
“You don’t need to take any action if you are interested in receiving federal student loan debt relief,” an email from the Education Department sent to those who are eligible read.
“We already have the information we need from you.”
President Joe Biden announced a plan in August to forgive federally backed student loan debt up to $10,000. To be eligible for the $10,000 in student debt forgiveness ($20,000 for Pell grant recipients), a person’s adjusted gross income, or AGI, for either 2020 or 2021 cannot be more than $125,000 for single filers and $250,000 for joint filers.
According to the email, the government can automatically verify income information for those who filled out the 2022-2023 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), or enrolled in a federal income-driven repayment plan.
“You don’t need to take any action if you are interested in receiving student loan debt relief!” the email reads.
Some are choosing to opt out of the program because some states are not exempting the debt forgiveness from being taxed.
If you do not want to have your debts forgiven, the deadline to opt out of the plan is also Nov. 14.
Borrowers who received the email about automatic forgiveness but want to have the loan forgiveness process before Nov. 14 can apply using the form on studentaid.gov.
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