WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Education announced today changes to its income-driven repayment (IDR) programs that will allow thousands of borrowers to receive immediate relief. About 40,000 borrowers are also scheduled to have their loans cancelled through the Department’s Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program.
In response, Jaylon Herbin, outreach and policy manager at the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), made the following statement:
We are pleased that thousands of borrowers will benefit from this long-awaited policy change that will finally provide low-income and low-wealth borrowers with a pathway to affordable student loan payments that lead to eventual cancellation and not a lifetime burden.
A more permanent solution, however, is still needed. That is why we continue to urge the Administration to provide student debt relief in the form of $50,000 in student loan cancellation per borrower, an amount that would eliminate or significantly reduce the debt burden for borrowers who have struggled with repayment even before the pandemic began and who are not covered by IDR or PSLF.
Additional Background
- Prior to today’s announcement, only 32 IDR borrowers received cancellation despite more than four million borrowers being in repayment for 20 years or longer.
- A coalition of 117 organizations sent a letter to the Biden Administration on April 7, 2022, calling on U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to reform IDR programs.
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Press Contact: Vincenza Previte vincenza.previte@responsiblelending.org