The application for student loan forgiveness has not officially launched yet, but the Education Department recently released more details on the application, which should be available in October. The White House said it will not start canceling loans until after October 23rd due to legal challenges, but borrowers should expect to get the relief within four to six weeks of applying. It is recommended that borrowers fill out the application by November 15 to receive relief by January when the payment pause expires, which reduces the possibility of confusion or errors when payments begin again.
According to a preview of the application, applicants will need to fill in basic information including name, birth date, phone number, email address, and social security number and will not require any documentation. The application can be done on a desktop computer or a mobile phone and will be available in English or in Spanish. While it won’t require proof of income, borrowers will need to self-attest that they fall under the income threshold (see below).
The income threshold considers a person’s adjusted gross income (AGI) which can be found on line 11 of your federal tax return. To qualify for relief, a borrower’s AGI in 2020 or 2021 must have been:
- under $125,000 for a single borrower or
- under $250,000 for a married couple or heads of households
The Education Department said they will notify about 8 million people by email who will have their debt canceled automatically without having to apply because their income data is already filed: borrowers who filed a FAFSA for the 2022-2023 school year and borrowers who are enrolled in income-driven repayment programs. It is still recommended that all borrowers who qualify for forgiveness fill out the official application to avoid any errors.
Anyone who made payments on their federal student loans during the payment pause from March 13, 2020 to now is eligible to request a refund from their loan servicer. To request a refund, the Department of Education recommends contacting the borrower’s specific loan servicer and following their instructions.
The office will post when the applications go live. A preview of what the loan forgiveness application will look like on both a computer and mobile device can be found here and more information about student loan relief can be found here.