Since a series of tweaks to make the program easier to access, more than 850,000 Americans have had their loans forgiven in exchange for a decade of public service.
A new bill would provide partial forgiveness for every year’s worth of loan repayments and expands what loans and repayment plans would qualify for the program.
Rules set to take effect next July expand which past loan repayments will apply for the program as well as simplify the employment certification process for some applicants.
Although temporary measures making the program easier to access will be unavailable from November until next July, officials said they are prepping a new one-time adjustment for applicants involved in income-driven repayment plans.
Although the Education Department has proposed regulations to make permanent many provisions of a temporary waiver program aimed at making the popular program easier to navigate, those rules won’t take effect until next year.
Although the Biden administration has already begun work to make many recent changes that make the program easier to use permanent, those reforms won’t be implemented until next summer.
The Biden administration earlier this month announced a wholesale reform of a web of federal loan forgiveness, including a number of measures to make it easier for federal workers to make use of the historically headache-inducing programs.
Readers share their experiences with the Education Department program that was recently overhauled. Challenges still remain, though the October changes did help many.