On Friday July 14, 2023 the Department of Education announced that $39 Billion dollars of student loans will be forgiven this year.
804,000 borrowers who have made 240 or 300 monthly payments—the equivalent of 20 or 25 years on an IDR plan or the standard repayment plan, will receive email notifications as soon as today. Discharges will be sent 30 days after emails are sent.
What Loan Types and Payments Qualify?
Forgiveness will be available to all federal loan borrowers who meet the qualifying repayment time frame with Direct Loans or Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL) held by the Department, including Parent PLUS loans.
To ensure more people qualify for forgiveness, the Biden administration included payments made by borrowers who had paused their payments in certain deferments and forbearances as well as those who had made partial or late payments.
A Breakdown of Qualifying Payments
Any month in which a borrower was in a repayment status, regardless of whether payments were partial or late, the type of loan, or the repayment plan
Any period in which a borrower spent 12 or more consecutive months in forbearance
Any month in forbearance for borrowers who spent 36 or more cumulative months in forbearance
Any month spent in deferment (except for in-school deferment) prior to 2013
Any month spent in economic hardship or military deferments on or after January 1, 2013
Any payments made prior to consolidation
Any month counted for this purpose can also be counted toward PSLF if the borrower documents qualifying employment for that same period.
What’s Next
Check your emails! The Department of Education will begin notifying eligible borrowers today. If you didn’t get an email and believe you qualify, don’t worry. The Department of Education will continue to identify and notify borrowers who reach the applicable forgiveness thresholds every two months until next year when all borrowers who are not yet eligible for forgiveness will have their payment counts updated.