Dear friend,

As you may have heard, President Biden recently announced his plan to cancel up to $10,000 of student loan debt for borrowers making less than $125,000, and $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients. This will provide assistance to millions of student loan borrowers who are still struggling with interest payments that have made them unable to pay back the original loan.

I applaud President Biden’s action to provide much-needed breathing room for countless student loan borrowers. Student debt is a serious economic burden for far too many Americans, and we must do all we can to support them as our nation recovers from the economic repercussions of the pandemic.

I wanted to write you to address some frequently asked questions my office has received and provide more information on when this relief can be expected. 

The U.S. Department of Education will provide up to $20,000 in debt cancellation to Pell Grant recipients with loans held by the Department of Education and up to $10,000 in debt cancellation to non-Pell Grant recipients. Borrowers are eligible for this relief if their individual income is less than $125,000 or $250,000 for households.

Nearly 8 million borrowers may be eligible to receive relief automatically because relevant income data is already available to the U.S. Department of Education. If you are unsure as to whether the U.S. Department of Education has your income data, borrowers are encouraged to complete an application for loan forgiveness, which will become available in early October and take 4-6 weeks to process. 

If you would like to be notified when the application is open, you can sign up at the Department of Education subscription page. More information on President Biden’s student debt relief plan can be found here.

As your Member of Congress, I will continue to fight for a more affordable higher education system that’s accessible to every American. As always, my office is here to work for you. Please don’t hesitate to contact us by using any of the numbers listed below.

Sincerely,

Bill Foster
Member of Congress