What is the latest on the $1.2 billion in student loan forgiveness?

The Department of Education Department officials spent Thursday and plan to carry on Friday with borrowers and experts over the details of the Biden administration's latest student loan forgiveness proposal. The meetings come after the U.S. Supreme Court last summer dealt the Biden administration a major set back, striking down the initial plan for mass student loan forgiveness. However talks underway are exploring more ways to ease America's student loan crisis, apart from a separate announcement on Wednesday, in which Biden said 150,000 long-time borrowers would be forgiven for $1.2 billion in student loans (which was first proposed in October 2023).

But after those meetings wrapped up, advocates for people with debt and congressional Democrats, including many of the negotiators, felt dissatisfied. As pressure mounted the Biden administration decided to extend the talks. The policies are still far from official, and yet conservative legal groups are already poking holes in them. To keep those groups at bay, less specificity might be the department's best strategy, according to Ed Boltz, managing partner at the Law Offices of John T. Orcutt and an alternate negotiator on the panel. "To the degree that it’s vague, I think that's probably not a bad thing," Boltz told USA TODAY before this week's talks. 

Here's what you need to know:

• The program: This forgiveness was part of the Biden administration's Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) program. It targeted borrowers who had been making payments under the program for at least 10 years.
• The impact: Over 150,000 borrowers received forgiveness, totaling $1.2 billion. This specifically benefited borrowers with smaller loan amounts, including those who had borrowed less than $12,000.
• Current status: The forgiveness process has already been completed. If you were eligible, you would have received an email notification and your loans should be marked as forgiven on your account. You can check your loan servicer's website or contact them directly for confirmation.

Ed Boltz is a student loan debt expert and is contributing to the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee which is working with the U.S. Department of Education to draft and craft regulations to provide for the waiver of student loans where the borrower faces economic hardships. If you are struggling with student loan debt and need answers about your options, we can assist you. Click below for a FREE consultation to go over your options.