WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 18: United States President Joe Biden speaks in the East Room of the White House about … [+]
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This article has been updated.
Yesterday, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona announced a policy change that will result in $ 1 billion in student loans being granted. But what does this mean for the ongoing efforts of progressive lawmakers and consumer rights activists to convince President Biden to cancel the student debt?
$ 1 billion in student debt will be forgiven
Student debt relief announced yesterday is provided as part of the Borrower Defense to Repayment program – a student loan relief program officially established by the Obama administration in 2016 to cancel federal student debt for students who were left by predatory colleges Universities have been misled, defrauded or otherwise injured. So far, the relief has been limited to students attending for-profit institutions.
Former Education Minister Betsy DeVos led efforts to limit aid provided under the borrower defense program. Finalized regulations, which came into force in July last year, make it more difficult for borrowers to take the burden off the students by increasing the burden of proof. DeVos also introduced a controversial new policy providing partial student loan waivers for approved borrower defense applications. So while the ministry was able to determine that a student loan borrower had been defrauded by her school, it was also able to grant little or no student loan issuance.
Education Minister Miguel Cardona, who was recently confirmed to replace DeVos, announced yesterday that the ministry would change its policy regarding requests to defend borrowers. Borrowers are now entitled to full student loan waiver and refunds for payments already made. Approximately 72,000 borrowers will be granted a total of around $ 1 billion in student loans over the coming weeks.
Is $ 10,000 or $ 50,000 in student loan forgiveness next?
Consumer lawyers, student loan activists and Democratic lawmakers in both the House and Senate have run a sustained campaign to persuade President Biden to use executive action to enact comprehensive student debt relief. Biden supports comprehensive student loan cancellation, but has repeatedly expressed his preference for Congress to legislate student debt cancellation rather than acting unilaterally through ordinance. The president has expressed support for $ 10,000 student loan waivers per borrower, despite activists urging him to waive $ 50,000 or more in student loans. Biden has spoken out against the $ 50,000 figure.
While the administration’s recent moves on student debt may not necessarily mean there will be future student loan relief, this is just the latest move the administration has taken to address student loans during its relatively short tenure to date. On his first day in office, President Biden signed an executive order extending the moratorium on most federal student loan payments and interest through September 30, 2021. Biden then instructed his Justice Department to authorize executive action to cancel student debt check – something with which he expressed his discomfort but did not explicitly remove it from the table. And earlier this month, Biden signed its comprehensive new stimulus package, the “American Rescue Plan,” which will exempt student loan cancellations and waivers from taxation until the end of 2025 under federal law “Way” for Biden to cancel student debt.
Secretary Cardona has also spoken out in favor of granting facilities for student loan borrowers, saying that student loans “would be a priority for me. It would be a priority area where we really need to ensure early on that we are developing clear support plans and strategies “to help student loan borrowers. Cardona also stressed that as a first generation college student, he understands “the importance of higher education and the importance of its accessibility”.
Consumer rights groups praised the Biden government’s recent move to provide Borrower Defense applicants with greater student loan relief, but noted that they still hope Biden will go further.
“Today’s decision will bring long-overdue relief to tens of thousands of borrowers,” said Kyle Southern, Policy and Advocacy Director for Higher Education and Workforce for Young Invincibles, in a statement. “It should also be a first step in a larger effort to revise the federal government’s approach to defending borrowers … It is a promising sign that greater protection for borrowers – and greater accountability for universities who would defraud them – are on the way. “.”
“Giving up partial relief is a good start for a small subset of borrowers,” Toby Merrill, director of the Student Predatory Loan Project, said in a statement. “But what we need from the Department of Education is a revision of the current borrower defense process … The previous government turned borrower defense into an outright sham, manipulated to deny claims without real deliberation. The Biden-Harris administration must now fix these shortcomings or maintain a system that is stacked against the very students they are supposed to protect. “
“We thank the Department of Education for the removal of its harmful policy to partially relieve borrower defenses,” said Veterans Education Success, a veterans advocate, in a tweet. “There is more to be done … but this is a good first step.”
further reading
Miguel Cardona confirmed as Minister of Education
Borrowers face enormous delays in applying for the student loan forgiveness program
Congress passes Biden’s Stimulus Bill: 6 Takeaways for Student Student Borrowers
Stimulus Bill has that hidden student loan tax break
Congress Makes Big Changes To Income-Based Repayment: What Student Loan Borrowers Should Know
Senate Passes Student Loan Tax Break Stimulus Bill – Will It “Pave the Way” to Student Debt Relief?
Here’s everyone who wants Biden to cancel student loan debt (it’s a big list)
Whether Biden will cancel the students’ debts depends on these 3 things
Could these student borrowers be excluded from Biden’s forgiveness?
Can Biden cancel private student loans? 3 options
source https://collegeeducationnewsllc.com/is-10000-in-student-loan-forgiveness-next-after-biden-administration-cancels-1-billion/
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