Biden administration rolls out new student debt plan, this time aimed at people with big debts
Source: CBS News
Updated on: October 25, 2024 / 9:03 AM EDT
The Biden administration's efforts to erase student debt for the 46 million Americans who are carrying college loans have repeatedly hit legal roadblocks. Now, the Department of Education is rolling out a new plan that could provide debt relief to 8 million borrowers who are suffering from financial hardships.
The new plan, unveiled Friday, would provide loan relief for approximately 8 million people with student loans who are suffering financial distress caused by other debts, ranging from medical expenses to costs due to a natural disaster. The Education Department said the proposed rules will be published in the Federal Register in the next few weeks, and that it expects to finalize the regulations in 2025.
President Joe Biden made delivering debt relief to people with student loans a key policy issue of his 2020 campaign, but Republican-led states have sued to block many of those efforts, while the Supreme Court in 2023 ruled 6-3 against his plan to erase up to $20,000 in debt for millions of borrowers.
At the same time, Americans are holding more than $1.7 trillion in student loans, a debt load that has impaired their ability to save or buy a home, among other issues. "For far too long, our student loan system has made it too difficult for borrowers experiencing hardships, often financial hardships, to access relief," Education Department Miguel Cardona said on a call with reporters. "It's not fair, it's not right and it's not who we are as Americans."
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-student-loan-forgiveness-8-million-financial-hardship/
Link to Department of Education PRESS RELEASE - Biden-Harris Administration Releases Proposed Rules to Authorize Debt Relief to Nearly Eight Million Borrowers Experiencing Hardship
Clouds Passing
(2,268 posts)notroot
(267 posts)MLF1981
(211 posts)Under the current rules, a forgiven student loan balance is almost always counted by the IRS as income. If you have a $300k student loan balance forgiven, the IRS expects you to pay income tax on an extra $300k for that year. As someone who has a six-figure balance in student loans, I'd rather owe the DOE the full amount than owe the IRS taxes on that amount. The DOE can't do very much other than destroy your credit forever... The IRS can throw you into prison.