What to know about student loan cancellations
On Aug. 24, President Joe Biden announced new initiatives on student loan cancellation and extended the pause on federal student loan repayment through Dec. 31.
Christina Ayres, the director of Financial Aid and Scholarships at USU, put together the following information to help inform students, faculty and staff about the changes announced.
“A detailed document to comprehend the latest announcement is on the U.S. Department of Education website. Utah State University also brings this and other information for student loan forgiveness, repayment deferral, and additional resources for qualified borrowers on our Student Financial Support Loan Repayment page.
To access a Spanish language version of the White House Press Release, visit Hoja Informativa de la Casa Blanca: El presidente Biden anuncia alivio de préstamos estudiantiles para prestatarios que más lo necesitan.
How do I know if I am eligible and what type of loans qualify for the debt cancelation?
- You borrowed federal student loans before July 1, 2022.
- Loans include Direct or PLUS federal loans (Undergraduate subsidized and unsubsidized, Graduate unsubsidized, or Graduate or Parent PLUS loans).
- $10,000 one-time cancelation of the total amount borrowed for students with annual income below $125,000 (single students), or $250,000 (married or head of household students)
- If you received a Pell Grant, borrowed loans in college, and meet the income threshold, you qualify for one-time $20,000 loan cancelation.
- Your total balance caps the total amount to be canceled. Examples:
- If the total borrowed is $28,500 and you qualify for a $20,000 cancelation, you will end up with an $8,500 balance.
- If you have $7,500 borrowed and qualify for a $10,000 cancelation, you will have $7,500 canceled and zero balance.
What do I need to do to learn if I qualify for the federal student loans cancelation?
- Contact your federal student loan provider to understand your student loans and check your balance. If you don’t know who your loan servicer is, log in to your account on the Federal Student Aid website to find out.
- Ensure your correct and current contact information (name, address, phone number). Loan servicers will contact you about the next steps.
- If the U.S. Department of Education doesn’t have your income data – or if you don’t know if the U.S. Department of Education has your income data, a simple application will launch by early October. You must submit this application before November 15th, 2022 to receive relief before payment pause ends. Once completed, borrowers can expect relief within 4 to 6 weeks.
- If you have a loan balance left after the debt relief cancelation, or if the loan forgiveness has not occurred yet, prepare to start repaying your loans in January 2023 if you are in the repayment phase. The freeze will end on December 31, 2022.
- If you want to be notified by the U.S. Department of Education when the application is open, please sign up on the Department of Education subscription page.
What is the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, and how do I qualify?
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program forgives the remaining balance on your federal student loans after 120 payments working full-time for federal, state, Tribal, local government, military, or qualifying non-profit employees. To check if you are eligible and apply for the limited waiver, visit and submit an application no later than October 31, 2022, at StudentAid.Gov/PSLF.
Please visit our website for more information about our Student Financial Support services at usu.edu/financial-support.”