Thousands of student debt activists took action through our Dreams Not Debt campaign to demand President Biden make good on his campaign promise to cancel federal student loan debt, and back in August, we won! Biden made a historical announcement that included up to $10K of federal student debt forgiveness and $20K for Pell Grant recipients. Let’s not forget the various efforts from young people across the country that brought us this win.
But now, new challenges stand in our way. Here’s the latest with the student loan forgiveness program:
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (led by six Republican-led states) has issued an injunction that is currently blocking the student loan forgiveness program from being carried out. So applicants, many of whom have already received notice that their application is approved, still have yet to see a dollar of forgiveness through this plan.
- The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments for the case in February, leaving the injunction in place until then.
- In response to this injunction, the student loan payment pause will extend until the U.S. Department of Education is permitted to implement the debt relief program or the litigation is resolved–payments will restart 60 days later. If the debt relief program has not been implemented and the litigation has not been resolved by June 30th, 2023 – payments will resume 60 days after that.
So, what does this mean?
Suppose the legal challenges against President Biden’s loan forgiveness plan are not resolved by June 30th. In that case, borrowers who qualify for this program will have to resume student loan payments despite being promised loan forgiveness time and time again.
Take Action
We fought hard for student loan forgiveness and won. That means student loan payments should only resume once that promise is delivered. Take action with us by telling President Biden to continue the pause on federal student loan payments as long as the legal battles against this program continue.
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The journey to canceling student debt has not been an easy one. From all of us at the Alliance, and borrowers from across the country, we thank you for your continued support and advocacy. Together we can bring this win forward and continue moving to improve America’s higher education system to reach more of our dreams, not debt.