$1.7B in student loans to be forgiven for over 37,000 Ohioans
Ohio & Mahoning Valley - More than 37,000 Ohioans will soon receive over $1.7 billion dollars in student debt relief, according to a state-by-state breakdown from the Department of Education.
The relief comes as part of "fixes" to the Biden Administration's Income-Driven Repayment plan, so all borrowers will have an accurate count of the number of monthly payments needed to qualify for forgiveness.
Friday, the Department of Education began notifying 804,000 borrowers- 37,000 of which are from Ohio- that their $39 billion in Federal student loans will be automatically forgiven in the coming weeks.
"I have long said that college should be a ticket to the middle class- not a burden that weighs down on families for decades," said President Joe Biden on Tuesday. "My Administration is delivering on that commitment. Starting today, over 800,000 student loan borrowers who have been repaying their loans for 20 years or more will see $39 billion of their loans discharged because of steps my Administration took to fix failures of the past. These borrowers will join the millions of people that my Administration has provided relief to over the past two years– resulting in over $116 billion in loan relief to over 3 million borrowers under my Administration."
According to the Department, borrowers are eligible for forgiveness if they have accumulated the equivalent of 20 to 25 years worth of monthly payments. Those who were notified that they qualify for this forgiveness do not have to take any further action, and can expect discharges to begin 30 days after receiving notification by email.
The Department will continue notifying borrowers who qualify for forgiveness every two months until next year, when all borrowers- including those who are not yet eligible- will have their payment counts updated.
"For far too long, borrowers fell through the cracks of a broken system that failed to keep accurate track of their progress towards forgiveness," U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said Friday. "By fixing past administrative failures, we are ensuring everyone gets the forgiveness they deserve, just as we have done for public servants, students who were cheated by their colleges, and borrowers with permanent disabilities, including veterans. This Administration will not stop fighting to level the playing field in higher education."
