Opinion: Students and borrowers have been anticipating the student loan forgiveness plan. But the unnecessary push back and delays leave many people uncertain.
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On Monday, Oct. 17, the application for one-time student loan forgiveness went live. After a few months of anticipation, the application is shockingly easy and only takes minutes to complete.
If you haven’t done so already, go fill it out. Even if you’re unsure about whether or not you qualify for the relief, you should still go fill it out and try to get whatever relief from the government you can.
While the application and process has officially begun, the lead up to its release has been a rollercoaster.Spontaneous changes to requirements and legal push back has prevented students and borrowers from getting the assistance they need.
First and foremost, the Department of Education and its website were not prepared to handle the reaction to the plan’s announcement.
When the plan was first announced in August, many people had issues logging in or even accessing the Federal Student Aid website. Downdetector found that 79% of users were having trouble logging in and 18% had issues with the overall website.
I was part of this 79%, and it lasted for quite some time before I was able to gain the information about my student loans to determine if I was eligible for the relief. The loophole in being eligible for this relief is meeting the numerous relief requirements.
An email with updates about the student loan forgiveness program stated, “If you are a dependent student, your eligibility will be determined based on your parental income.” But what is a dependent student?
According to the FSA, a dependent student is someone who answers no to 10 questions including if they are older than 24, married, pursuing a doctoral degree, have children, etc.
This frustrates many borrowers who have taken the loans out themselves but don’t meet the independent criteria, since the ED will still look at their parents income. Even if they are 23 years old, not living at home and financially supporting themselves, if their parents make enough money they are excluded from receiving relief.
Additionally, the FSA has changed further requirements about Perkins and Federal Family Education Loans without advance notice, completely barring anyone with a private loan from receiving loan assistance.
Up until Sept. 29, the FSA website stated, “ED is assessing whether to provide relief to borrowers with privately owned federal student loans, including FFEL and Perkins Loans, and is discussing this with private lenders.”
On Sept. 29 though, the website was updated to say, “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.” It further explains that those who consolidated their loans before Sept. 29 are eligible.
The website and subsequent requirements were changed in less than two hours, giving borrowers no opportunity to consolidate their loans. According to NPR, this change excludes 800,000 borrowers who otherwise believed they were getting relief.
It seems as though lawmakers and politicians don’t want to help out the majority of the population who struggle with student debt.
In September, six states — Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, South Carolina and Iowa — filed a lawsuit against President Joe Biden, claiming “the Biden Administration’s Mass Debt Cancellation is another example in a long line of unlawful regulatory actions. No statute permits President Biden to unilaterally relieve millions of individuals from their obligation to pay loans they voluntarily assumed.”
While the main premise of their argument rested on the privately held loans and the incentive for borrowers to consolidate them, the administration has already changed the requirements.
Two other lawsuits have already been dismissed. One remains ongoing in Texas regarding borrowers who do not qualify for the full $20,000 relief.
It makes no sense that these politicians so strongly oppose student loan forgiveness when they themselves had thousands, if not millions, of dollars in loans canceled from the Paycheck Protection Program.
In a response to a House Judiciary GOP Tweet saying, “If you take out a loan, you pay it back. Period,” the Center for American Progress posted a list of 13 members of Congress and their forgiven loan amounts.
These politicians are completely fine in supporting a policy that financially or politically supports them time and time again. But when it comes to the 45 million borrowers who seek even a slight amount of financial assistance, they will do everything in their power to prevent it.
Student loan forgiveness is crucial, and though the current plan may not be enough for each and every borrower, it is incredibly beneficial for those who qualify. Plus, it may lead to further discussions about extended relief in the future.
