In a reversal, the Education Dept. is excluding millions from student loan relief

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:

philip lewis
@Phil_Lewis_
·
Follow
In a remarkable reversal that will affect millions of student loan borrowers, the Department of Education has quietly changed its guidance around who qualifies for Biden's sweeping student debt relief plan

npr.org
In a reversal, the Education Dept. is excluding millions from student loan relief
The Biden administration has quietly changed its guidance to disqualify borrowers who have privately-held FFEL and Perkins loans.
11:12 AM · Sep 29, 2022

https://www.npr.org/2022/09/29/1125923528/biden-student-loans-debt-cancellation-ffel-perkins

In a remarkable reversal that will affect the fortunes of millions of student loan borrowers, the U.S. Department of Education has quietly changed its guidance around who qualifies for President Biden's sweeping student debt relief plan.

At the center of the change are borrowers who took out federal student loans many years ago, both Perkins loans and Federal Family Education Loans. FFEL loans, issued and managed by private banks but guaranteed by the federal government, were once the mainstay of the federal student loan program until the FFEL program ended in 2010.

Today, according to federal data, more than 4 million borrowers still have commercially-held FFEL loans. Until Thursday, the department's own website advised these borrowers that they could consolidate these loans into federal Direct Loans and thereby qualify for relief under Biden's debt cancellation program.



On Thursday, though, the department quietly changed that language. The guidance now says, "As of Sept. 29, 2022, borrowers with federal student loans not held by ED cannot obtain one-time debt relief by consolidating those loans into Direct Loans."



*snip*




Ummmmm....

[WhiskeyGrinder]

1. Lol good lord.

[Act_of_Reparation]

2. Ugh.

[yardwork]

3. If true, this is a big political mistake.

[Solly Mack]

4. K&R

[dchill]

5. The word "betrayal" is going to become a thing.

Smooth move. Especially right before this crucial midterm election.

[bahboo]

6. um...hard ro understand this...

nobody will be happy...

[iemanja]

7. The whole thing is being challenged in the courts

Those with private loans may not be the only ones disappointed if the suit is successful.