August 26, 2022
Expanded federal loan forgiveness options
The Biden Administration, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education, recently announced a three-part student debt relief plan impacting those with federally held student debt. Important highlights are below and additional details will be forthcoming over the next several weeks.
The first part of the relief plan continues the pandemic-related payment pause through Dec. 31 and payments are scheduled to resume in January 2023. This final pause does not require any action and should automatically be applied by the loan servicer.
The second part of the relief plan provides 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. The process to claim cancellation has not yet been announced but those interested can be notified of when the process opens by signing up at the Department of Education subscription page.
The third and final part of the plan proposes a new income-driven repayment plan that may reduce future monthly payments for lower- and middle-income borrowers.
As a reminder, temporary changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program expiring on Oct. 31 may allow eligible borrowers to have all their student loan debt forgiven. Earlier this year, K-State began partnering with Savi to help employees navigate their loan forgiveness options. Savi can help explain debt options, navigate bureaucracy and assist with the application process. Savi may also help cap your payment based on income and family size, free up money for other financial goals, remove the complexities of forgiveness and put the loan forgiveness process on auto-pilot for a small fee with many features available at no cost. More than 155 K-State employees have created Savi accounts, with more than $4.2 million in federal student loan debt managed and an estimated $2.1 million in projected forgiveness. Public Service Loan Forgiveness applicants can contact benefits@k-state.edu to have the employer portion of their application completed.
Visit TIAA.org/kbor/student today to calculate your savings or visit the HCS website for additional details and an interactive FAQ. Please contact your benefits team at benefits@k-state.edu for any assistance or support.