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Graduate students standing in a row, outdoors
Barry Austin Photography
You’ll receive $10,000 in student-loan forgiveness if you meet the income requirements.
You’ll receive $20,000 in forgiveness if you received a Pell Grant and meet the income requirements.
Individuals must make $125,000 or less, and married couples must make $250,000 or less.
On August 24, President Biden announced that he will forgive up to $20,000 in student loans for federal borrowers who meet the following income requirements:
Annual income of $125,000 or less for individualsAnnual income of $250,000 or less for married couples who file their taxes jointly
If you meet the income requirements above and received a Pell Grant while you were in school, you’re eligible to receive $20,000. Pell Grants are awarded to undergraduate students with exceptional financial need, and Biden is forgiving a larger amount for student who received them.
If you meet the income requirements above and did not receive a Pell Grant, you’re eligible to receive $10,000 in student-loan forgiveness.
Which loans qualify for student-loan forgiveness?
Only loans held by the federal government are eligible for student-loan forgiveness. Here is a list of loan types that are eligible:
Undergraduate and graduate Direct loansParent PLUS loansDirect PLUS loans given to graduate and professional studentsConsolidation loans (with underlying loans disbursed on or before June 30, 2022)FFEL loans held by the Department of EducationPerkins loans held by the Department of EducationDefaulted loans (including Department of Education-held or commercially serviced Subsidized Stafford, Unsubsidized Stafford, parent PLUS, and graduate PLUS loans, and Perkins loans held by the Department of Education)
Here’s a complete list of federal student-loan servicers:
FedLoan Servicing (PHEAA)Great Lakes Education Loan Services, Inc.EdfinancialMOHELAAidvantageNelnetOSLA ServicingESCIDefault Resolution Group
If your student-loan servicer is not listed above, your student loans are held by a private lender and they’re ineligible for student-loan forgiveness.
How do I know if I qualify for $20,000 in forgiveness?
Log into your studentaid.gov account to check your student loan details. If you see one blue circle with your student loan balance, and another green circle that says Pell Grant, you are eligible for $20,000 in student-loan forgiveness if you meet the income requirements.
Here’s what your studentaid.gov dashboard will look like if you received a Pell Grant:
If you see two circles, one blue and one green, on your student aid website, you received a Pell Grant and you’re eligible for $20,000 in student-loan forgiveness.
studentaid.gov
There is no partial student-loan forgiveness for people who do not meet the income requirement
At the time of this writing, student-loan forgiveness is not available for people who make more than the income requirements outlined in Biden’s plan.