John,

After more than 3 1/2 years, student loan payments will resume in the next few weeks. Because of the AFT’s advocacy, the Biden administration has made significant changes to make your student debt more manageable and, potentially, easier to forgive.

This month, President Joe Biden announced the new Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE, plan for student loan borrowers. Here’s what you need to know.

The SAVE plan is an income-driven repayment plan that calculates payments based on a borrower’s income and family size—not their loan balance—and forgives remaining balances after a certain number of years. The SAVE plan will cut many borrowers’ monthly payments to zero, will save other borrowers around $1,000 per year, will prevent balances from growing because of unpaid interest, and will get more borrowers closer to loan forgiveness faster.

The new plan will provide affordable monthly payments, ensure that borrowers never see their balance grow from ballooning interest if they keep up with required payments, and even provide early loan forgiveness for low-balance borrowers. To learn more, or to sign up for SAVE, visit StudentAid.gov/SAVE. Payments under this plan qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

This new program will help thousands of student loan borrowers and builds on the Biden administration’s commitment to making sure Americans are not burdened by their education. In addition to the SAVE plan, and because of the AFT’s advocacy, the Biden administration fixed crucial pieces of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program to make it more accessible and predictable; as a result, our members already have had more than $34 million in debt forgiven.

To learn more about the SAVE plan, the PSLF program, or how you can get personalized student debt guidance with our online partner Summer, click here to register for an upcoming AFT Student Debt Clinic webinar.

As always, the AFT will continue to push for ways to make college more affordable and accessible and to fight for investment in higher education, so that every student who chooses to pursue higher education can do so.

In unity,
Randi Weingarten
AFT President