A photo of the Federal Student Loan Debt Relief application. — The student loan forgiveness application is short with only a few questions to answer.

Federal Student Loan Debt Relief application becomes available

By Anna Marie Barrientos On Nov 8, 2022 396 0

The application for student debt relief is now available to the public. This comes a month after the Biden Administration’s 3-part-plan to cancel a portion of federal student loan debt.

This student debt relief applies to those federal loan borrowers who took out loans before June 30, 2022, and fall below the income thresholds only. The debt relief does not apply to borrowers of private loans. Loans that qualify include: William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program loans, 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 and defaulted loans (includes ED-held or commercially serviced Subsidized Stafford, Unsubsidized Stafford, parent PLUS, graduate PLUS and Perkins loans held by ED).

A photo of the qualifications for the Federal Student Loan Debt Relief application. — Individuals who fall below the income threshold qualify. Screenshot from studentaid.gov.

Past and current UHCL students can begin applying immediately. The information for 8 million people is already in the system because they submitted financial information for 2020 and 2021 already, will not have to apply. These individuals will qualify for automatic relief unless they opt out by Nov. 19, 2022. Those who automatically qualify will receive an email from their loan service provider detailing the information. Those who do not automatically qualify must apply.

Amongst the new changes, the Federal Student Aid (FSA) administration urges individuals to be on the lookout for scammers. Individuals are advised to work with their loan servicers and FSA directly.

“Our emails to borrowers come from noreply@studentaid.gov, noreply@debtrelief.studentaid.gov, or ed.gov@public.govdelivery.com,” the FSA website stated. “You can report scam attempts to the Federal Trade Commission by calling 1-877-382-4357 or by visiting reportfraud.ftc.gov.”

The deadline to apply for student loan debt relief is December 31, 2023.

If individuals are unsure if they qualify, they should contact FSA agents at 1-833-932-3439.

While applications are still open, debt discharge processing has been halted for the time being.

“As a result of a court order, we are temporarily blocked from processing debt discharges,” the FSA website stated.

Students interested in applying can fill out the application here: APPLY HERE