22 million signed up for student loan debt relief
FILE – New graduates line up before the start of a community college commencement in East Rutherford, N.J., May 17, 2018. A federal judge in St. Louis on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022, dismissed an effort by six Republican-led states to block the Biden administration’s plan to forgive student loan debt for tens of millions of Americans. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
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(NewsNation) — The White House has announced that 22 million people have signed up for student loan debt relief, just one week after applications opened.
“Close to 22 million people have already given us the information to be considered for this life-changing relief,” President Joe Biden said, according to the Twitter account for Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
Applications for student debt relief opened last weekend. On Monday, the White House announced that 8 million people had signed up.
The plan would forgive $10,000 in federal student loan debt for those with incomes under $125,000 a year, or households under $250,000 a year. If you received Pell Grants when you went to school, you would be eligible for an additional $10,000.
Earlier this week, Biden boasted the ease of the process, saying borrowers need to fill out a “simple, straightforward” application including their name, Social Security number, contact information and date of birth.
Borrowers will be able to submit the application through the end of next year.
The debt cancellation plan has attracted multiple legal challenges. Earlier this week, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett rejected one of those appeals from a Wisconsin-based taxpayer group demanding to halt the student debt cancelation plan.
Student loan payments have been frozen since the start of the pandemic. When the president announced his plan for student debt loan cancellation, he also extended the freeze to Dec. 31.
