Dear Friend,

If you have a federal student loan and make less than $125,000 (for individuals) or $250,000 (for couples), you may qualify for President Biden’s Federal Student Loan Debt Relief program!

This one-time debt relief program provides eligible borrowers with full or partial loan forgiveness up to $20,000. To benefit from the program, you must submit an application to the U.S. Department of Education (ED) by December 31, 2023. This application takes less than five minutes.

How much debt relief can I get?

Up to $20,000 in debt relief if you ever received a Federal Pell Grant in college (even if only for one semester) and meet the income requirements
Up to $10,000 in debt relief if you didn’t receive a Federal Pell Grant in college and meet the income requirements

What are the income requirements?

Individuals who made less than $125,000 in 2021 or 2020
Families that made less than $250,000 in 2021 or 2020

You need to meet the income criteria for either 2020 or 2021, but you don’t need to meet it for both years.

What about recently or currently enrolled undergraduate students?
Recently and currently enrolled undergraduate students might qualify, but the debt relief applies only to loan balances they had before June 30, 2022. Any new loans disbursed (when you received your loan funds) on or after July 1, 2022, aren’t eligible.

Recently and currently enrolled undergraduate students might be classified as dependents for federal student aid purposes. As a dependent student, you’re eligible for the same amount of debt relief as everyone else, but your eligibility is based on your parents’ income, not your income.

Here are some reasons you likely would be classified as a dependent student:

You were enrolled as an undergraduate student between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022.
You were born after Jan. 1, 1998.
You aren’t married.

You should apply for debt relief using your own income information. If ED identifies you as a dependent student, ED will email you with instructions for you and your parent. Until then, you don’t need to do anything except submit your application.

Which types of loans are eligible?
The following types of federal student loans disbursed on or before June 30, 2022, are eligible:

William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program loans
- This includes Direct Subsidized Loans, Direct Unsubsidized Loans, and Direct PLUS Loans (including graduate PLUS loans and parent PLUS loans)
Direct Consolidation loans, as long as all of the underlying loans that were consolidated were ED-held loans.
- Additionally, consolidation loans comprised of any FFEL or Perkins loans not held by ED are also eligible, as long as the borrower applied for consolidation before Sept. 29, 2022.
Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL)Program loans held by ED or in default at a guaranty agency
Federal Perkins Loan Program loans held by ED
Defaulted loans (includes ED-held or commercially serviced Subsidized Stafford, Unsubsidized Stafford, parent PLUS, graduate PLUS; and Perkins loans held by ED)

The following types of loans are NOT eligible:

Private loans (i.e., non-federal loans)
FFEL Program loans not held by ED (privately-held)
Federal Perkins Loan Program loans not held by ED (privately-held)

What about the student loan payment pause?
On August 24, 2022, President Biden announced that the current payment pause on federal student loans would be extended one last time until December 31, 2022. That means that on January 1, 2023, required monthly payments will resume for many borrowers.

Eligible borrowers who would like their debt cancellation to be processed before payments resume on January 1, 2023 are encouraged to apply for the program as soon as possible, but at the latest by mid- November 2022.

How can I apply for the student loan debt relief?

Apply today here.

Filling out the application is easy and takes about 5 minutes. You don’t need to log in or provide any documents.

The deadline to apply is December 31, 2023.

What happens after I apply?

You’ll receive an email confirmation.
ED will review your application and contact you if they need more information. Reasons ED may need more information include:
1. They need documentation to verify your income.
2. You were enrolled as a dependent student anytime between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022, and they need information about your parent's income.
3. They can’t match you to their loan records based on the information you provided in your application.
4. They determine that you don’t have any eligible federal loans.

If you don’t hear anything from ED, no further action is needed.

3. ED will notify you once your application is approved.
4. Your loan servicer(s) will apply your relief directly to your account. It may take some time for your account to reflect this change. Each loan servicer you have will notify you separately. They’ll let you know if your loans are paid in full or have an outstanding balance. If you have an outstanding loan balance, they will also notify you what your new monthly payment will be once payments resume after Dec. 31, 2022.

Beware of Scams
You might be contacted by a company saying they will help you get loan discharge, forgiveness, cancellation, or debt relief for a fee. You will never have to pay for help with your federal student aid. Make sure you work only with the U.S. Department of Education and their servicers, and never reveal your personal information or account password to anyone.

You can report scam attempts to the Federal Trade Commission by calling 1-877-382-4357 or by visiting reportfraud.ftc.gov.

What if I have additional questions?
More detailed information on the program and eligibility requirements can be found here.

If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact my office at chu.house.gov.

Remember, you need to apply by December 31, 2023 to qualify for the student loan debt relief program. Just a few minutes of your time could save you thousands of dollars on your student loans!

Sincerely,

Judy Chu, PhD
Member of Congress

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