Student Loan Forgiveness No Longer Happening Because Of New Lawsuit?

The Biden administration's plan for student loan forgiveness could be in jeopardy now that a lawsuit from six Republican-led states that could nix the deal.

By Ryan Clancy | Published

People who attend higher education have often been stuck with hefty student loans after they qualify. This debt can follow them around for most of their lives and impede them from getting a mortgage, setting up a new business, or generally doing anything life-changing that costs a decent sum of money. It looked like hope, on this front, was on the way but a new lawsuit could delay the Biden Administration’s plans for student loan forgiveness.

In August, students and post-students around America did a collective sigh of relief when President Biden announced a bill that would be passed in congress for student loan forgiveness for up to $10,000. The applicants who want to apply for this loan would have to make under 125,000 annually or under 250,000 for a married couple or a head of a household (family with kids but one income). Some people could be entitled to another $10,000 if they received federal Pell grants while going to university.

But to the horror of students and bankers alike, there has been a hiccup in the Biden administration’s plans. Six Republican-led states have filed a lawsuit that will force the government to push the payment date from this new student loan bill to October 17th, 2022. This delay will cause financial stress for students expecting to receive help from the student loan forgiveness program in the new year, and for bank institutions who thought they would receive a mass lump sum from the government.

Whoever is eligible after the application will have their debt wiped without any further instructions or tasks to complete. This debt could be erased as quickly as four to six weeks after applying. This student loan forgiveness will come into effect before loan payments will re-start on January 1st of next year.

The number of students and post-students expecting student loan forgiveness from this bill shows how much debt our highly qualified workforce will put themselves into to receive an excellent education. Eight million students will have their debt wiped automatically, while 40 million will need to apply for the government’s help. The original opening date for this loan was early October which is now in jeopardy because of this new lawsuit.

While the original launch date of the online application could be in jeopardy, nothing has been released by the Biden administration to confirm or deny any delay. Anybody that wants to apply for this help should do so by November 15th to ensure payment before the application for relief closes at year-end, December 31st.

To ensure your successful application, you can be notified by email when the application process opens by going onto the Department of Education’s webpage and subscribing to receive updates about federal student loans. Also, for those who are not eligible for student loan forgiveness from the government or still have debt after receiving this aid, it might be helpful to know that all loan payments are paused until January next year.

President Biden’s administration has been getting a lot of stick recently for not being as effective as other Presidents were. But getting bills like this student loan forgiveness program through Congress to help out students in a mass of lifelong debt, and other bills like the ones on climate change and electric vehicles, show that there is a forward outlook and a thought for the people of America.