ENGLISH

2024 might just be the year your student loan gets wiped out!

Thanks to President Biden, a new Department of Education program in 2024 helps pay off your student loan.

Here’s how it works and how you can apply for free.

This offering is part of the SAVE (S-A-V-E) Program. Did you know that almost seven million Student Loan borrowers are enrolled in SAVE already? About four million of them now have no monthly payment!

What are you waiting for?

First. Sign up for free, if you haven't already in the SAVE program. It only takes a few minutes.

Next. Check to see if you’re eligible for early forgiveness.

The website is student-aid-dot-g–o-v-slash-SAVE.

Again. student-aid-dot-g–o-v-slash-(S-A-V-E)

Borrowers enrolled in SAVE who took out $12,000 or less in loans, and have been in repayment for at least 10 years will automatically get their remaining student debt canceled starting the following month.

For every $1,000 of additional loans, you get relief after an additional year of payments.

Best of all, with the SAVE Program is that once you're enrolled, you don't have do anything else. The debt cancellation is automatic!

Learn more about the rules for the SAVE program in your state at tiny-U-R-L-dot-com-slash-cut-student-debt

Again, the website is tiny (t-i-n-y)-U-R-L-dot-com-forward-slash-cut-student-debt

This new program for 2024  is part of President Biden’s goal to quickly get debt relief to student loan borrowers.

Don’t miss your opportunity to clear your student debt! Sign up today for the SAVE program to get started.

This audio was created using A-I, as a public service by Democracy Labs.

Find more free helpful resources at The- (t-h-e)-Dem-Labs-dot-o-r-g

SPANISH

¡2024 podría ser el año en que su préstamo estudiantil desaparezca!

Gracias al presidente Biden, un nuevo programa del Departamento de Educación en 2024 le ayudará a pagar su préstamo estudiantil.

Así es como funciona y cómo puedes solicitarlo de forma gratuita.

Esta oferta es parte del programa SAVE (S-A-V-E). ¿Sabía que casi siete millones de prestatarios de préstamos para estudiantes ya están inscritos en SAVE? ¡Cerca de cuatro millones de ellos ahora no tienen pago mensual!

¿Que estas esperando?

Primero. Regístrate gratis, si aún no lo has hecho en el programa SAVE. Sólo lleva unos minutos.

Próximo. Verifique si es elegible para la condonación anticipada.

El sitio web es Student-Aid-Dot-G–O-V-Slash-SAVE.

De nuevo. ayuda-estudiante-punto-g–ov-barra-(GUARDAR)

Los prestatarios inscritos en SAVE que obtuvieron $12,000 o menos en préstamos y han estado pagando durante al menos 10 años automáticamente cancelarán su deuda estudiantil restante a partir del mes siguiente.

Por cada $1,000 de préstamos adicionales, obtienes alivio después de un año adicional de pagos.

Lo mejor de todo, con el Programa SAVE es que una vez que estás inscrito no tienes que hacer nada más. ¡La cancelación de la deuda es automática!

Obtenga más información sobre las reglas del programa SAVE en su estado en tiny-U-R-L-dot-com-slash-cut-student-debt

Nuevamente, el sitio web es pequeño (t-i-n-y)-U-R-L-dot-com-forward-slash-cut-student-debt

Este nuevo programa para 2024 es parte del objetivo del presidente Biden de lograr rápidamente un alivio de la deuda de los prestatarios de préstamos estudiantiles.

¡No pierda la oportunidad de liquidar su deuda estudiantil! Regístrese hoy en el programa SAVE para comenzar.

Este audio fue creado utilizando A-I, como servicio público, por Democracy Labs.

Encuentre más recursos útiles gratuitos en The- (t-h-e)-Dem-Labs-dot-o-r-g

Short Text
Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced that it is shortening the path to debt cancellation for borrowers enrolled in the SAVE plan who originally took out $12,000 or less for college. Please see below toplines and clips to uplift.

Clips:

• AP: Some Americans will get their student loans canceled in February as Biden accelerates his new plan
• Axios: Biden cancels student loans for more borrowers
• NBC News: Biden announces fresh wave of early student debt cancellation for some borrowers
• CNBC: Biden administration to forgive certain student loan borrowers’ balances early
• NPR: A new student loan forgiveness policy is starting sooner than expected
• CNN: Student loan forgiveness under SAVE plan to begin next month

POTUS statement: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/01/12/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-early-student-debt-cancellation-for-borrowers-enrolled-in-save/

Dept of ED release and state by state SAVE enrollment: https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/biden-harris-administration-shorten-path-debt-cancellation-some-save-borrowers

Talking Points:

• Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced that its shortening the path to debt cancellation for borrowers enrolled in the SAVE plan who originally took out $12,000 or less for college.
• Borrowers enrolled in SAVE who took out $12,000 or less in loans, and have been in repayment for at least 10 years will automatically get their remaining student debt cancelled starting next month – with no action needed on their part. For every $1,000 of additional loans taken out, borrowers are eligible for relief after an additional year of payments.
• The Biden-Harris Administration is implementing this provision of SAVE nearly 6 months ahead of schedule – and it’s part of President Biden and his Administration’s efforts to deliver student debt relief to as many borrowers as possible, as quickly as possible.
• This life-changing relief will particularly help borrowers who attended community college, low-income borrowers, and borrowers struggling to pay their loans.
• The Administration is using this as an opportunity to kick off an outreach campaign by sending emails directly to borrowers not enrolled in SAVE but who may be eligible for early forgiveness if they enroll.  
• To sign up for SAVE and to see if you’re eligible for early forgiveness, visit studentaid.gov/SAVE.
• The Administration is also announcing that 6.9 million borrowers are currently enrolled in SAVE – and 3.9 million have a $0 monthly payment. The Department of Education is releasing new state by state numbers of borrowers enrolled in SAVE.
• President Biden believes higher education should be a ticket to the middle class – not a barrier to opportunity. Already, the Biden Administration has approved debt cancellation for over 3.6 million Americans through a variety of actions, launched the most affordable repayment plan ever – the SAVE plan – and secured the largest increase to Pell Grants in a decade. And, the Administration continues to pursue an alternative path to debt relief through negotiated rulemaking.
• President Biden will never stop fighting to give borrowers breathing room and to provide relief to as many borrowers as possible.

Long version: U.S. Department of Education

Biden-Harris Administration to Shorten Path to Debt Cancellation for Some SAVE Borrowers

JANUARY 11, 2024

Contact:   Press Office, (202) 401-1576, press@ed.gov

New data show 6.9 million borrowers are enrolled in the Administration’s most affordable repayment plan

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced that next month it will start providing forgiveness after as few as 10 years of payments for borrowers on the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan who originally took out $12,000 or less for college. Borrowers enrolled in SAVE who are eligible for early forgiveness will have their debts cancelled immediately starting next month, with no action on their part. To help as many borrowers as possible benefit from this action, the (Department) is kicking off an outreach and email campaign to encourage borrowers who are not currently enrolled in SAVE to sign up because they may benefit from this shortened repayment period. The Administration is also announcing today that there are now 6.9 million borrowers enrolled in the SAVE Plan as of early January, more than double the enrollment on the Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE) plan it replaced in August.

The shorter time to forgiveness benefit will particularly help borrowers who attended community colleges; these students typically borrow smaller amounts. Overall, the Department estimates that the SAVE Plan will make 85% of future community college borrowers debt free within 10 years. The SAVE Plan will also help borrowers who are more likely to struggle with their loans, as most borrowers in default originally borrowed $12,000 or less.

“Beyond being the most affordable student loan repayment plan ever available, the Biden-Harris Administration designed the SAVE Plan to put community college students and other low-balance borrowers on a faster track to debt forgiveness than ever before,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “Our ability to deliver this relief to borrowers months ahead of schedule is a testament to the Biden Administration’s commitment to delivering relief to as many borrowers as possible, as quickly as possible. Today’s announcement gives borrowers an even greater reason to check out the SAVE plan and find out if they may qualify for earlier debt relief. With lower monthly payments, protection from runaway interest, and faster timelines to debt forgiveness, President Biden’s SAVE plan is not only benefitting millions of current borrowers but also providing the students of today and tomorrow with a more affordable pathway to college degrees and credentials.”

The Department is accelerating this benefit months ahead of the date previously laid out in the Biden-Harris Administration’s final regulations for implementing the SAVE plan, which is July 1, 2024. Borrowers enrolled in SAVE who have made at least 10 years of monthly payments and originally took out $12,000 or less for undergraduate or graduate postsecondary studies are eligible for forgiveness. For every $1,000 borrowed above $12,000, a borrower can receive forgiveness after an additional year of payments. That means a borrower who originally borrowed less than $21,000 will be eligible for forgiveness faster than the 20-year timeline for undergraduate borrowers on SAVE. The benefit is based upon the original principal balance of all federal loans borrowed to attend school, not what a borrower currently owes or the amount of an individual loan. Periods that count toward the forgiveness benefits include months during the payment pause and time in repayment as determined through the payment count adjustment.

“Today’s announcement will help struggling borrowers who have been making loan payments for years, including many who never graduated from college,” said Under Secretary James Kvaal. “Giving borrowers with smaller loans a faster path to being debt free will help many borrowers avoid financial distress and have peace of mind.”

The Biden-Harris Administration is also kicking off a wave of outreach to encourage more borrowers to enroll in SAVE, particularly those who may be able eligible for immediate forgiveness. Today, the Department will begin emailing borrowers whose balances and time in repayment indicates they may benefit from the shortened time to forgiveness provision. The Department will also work with the SAVE on Student Debt coalition and other supportive organizations to conduct further outreach in the coming months.

In February, the Department will start notifying borrowers on SAVE who are eligible for forgiveness that their loans are being discharged automatically with no action needed on the borrower’s part. The Department will also email borrowers not on SAVE who can receive forgiveness as soon as they sign up for the plan. Moving forward, the Department will continue to identify and discharge the loans of eligible borrowers on a regular basis. The Department strongly encourages all eligible borrowers who originally borrowed $12,000 or less to apply for SAVE as soon as possible.

For student borrowers, the SAVE Plan remains the most affordable repayment option in most cases. Under the SAVE Plan, single borrowers who earn less than $32,800 per year or those in a family of four making less than $67,500 have a $0 payment. The SAVE Plan also ensures that a borrower’s balance will never grow due to unpaid interest as long as they are making their monthly payments. The improved application allows borrowers to have their income securely accessed through the Internal Revenue Service so they do not need to re-certify their income or reapply for plans like SAVE each year. Savings for borrowers will increase again when the Department implements further payment reductions for borrowers with undergraduate loans in July 2024.

Continued Increases in SAVE Enrollment

The Biden-Harris Administration also announced today that there are now 6.9 million borrowers enrolled in the SAVE plan. This includes 2.8 million borrowers on SAVE who are new to an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan and approximately 700,000 who have switched from another income-driven repayment plan. Overall, borrowers are repaying $374 billion in federal student loans on the plan, about 30% of all Direct Loans dollars in repayment, deferment, or forbearance.

Borrowers are continuing to see significant financial benefits from being on SAVE compared to the previous REPAYE Plan. Of SAVE enrollees, 3.9 million have a $0 payment, while borrowers who owe a payment are saving an estimated $117 a month (just over $1,400 a year). These savings don’t include the interest that borrowers avoid each month after they satisfy their repayment obligation. Department data show that SAVE enrollment continues to be well targeted, as 75% of SAVE borrowers also received Pell Grants, which are awarded to low-income college students.

The SAVE Plan builds on the Biden-Harris Administration’s work to reduce the burden of student debt on America’s families. The Biden-Harris Administration has already approved nearly $132 billion in targeted relief for more than 3.6 million borrowers. Just last month, the Department announced the approval of an additional $4.8 billion in student loan debt relief for 80,300 borrowers. The Biden-Harris Administration has now approved:

• Almost $44 billion in IDR relief for nearly 901,000 borrowers;
• $53.5 billion for almost 750,000 borrowers through fixes to Public Service Loan Forgiveness that began in October 2021. By contrast, only about 7,000 borrowers had received forgiveness through these programs at the start of the Biden-Harris Administration.

The Biden-Harris Administration is currently in the process of writing proposed regulations that would make more borrowers eligible for debt relief. It also recently finalized regulations that help create the most effective accountability system ever for colleges that leave students with unaffordable debts and will continue to take action to reduce the cost of college and improve the value of postsecondary education.

Borrowers can view more resources and tools that help them find the right repayment plan for their current circumstances at StudentAid.gov/restart. More information about SAVE is available at StudentAid.gov/save.