How to Apply for Student Loan Debt Relief Now with Beta Version of Form

On Friday night, the Department of Education released a beta version of the federal student loan debt relief form. In an email blast at 10:46 am ET Saturday, the department invited borrowers on its mailing list to “be the first to apply for student debt relief.”

The short form can be completed in about two minutes. You can apply for debt relief of up to $20,000 if you owe money on federal student loans and earn less than $125,000 per year or $250,000 as a householder or as a spouse filing jointly in either 2020 or 2021.

The DoE said it is using the beta version of the application to “refine its processes” and will “provide regular access to the form to help us prepare for our official launch.”

In Saturday’s email, the agency said: “The application will be turned on and off during this beta period. If you try and it’s not available, try again later. Once the application officially opens later this month, it will remain open until December 31, 2023.” In other words, there’s no rush, but do it now.

Until then, no student loan debt will be canceled October 23, 2022 at the earliest, as explained in the DoE court document’s response to a request for an injunction in a lawsuit brought by six Republican-led states to shut down the student loan assistance program. A federal judge has heard arguments about the injunction and could grant or deny it any day.

We don’t know when the program will officially launch, but we do know that if you apply now, you won’t have to reapply. There’s no reason to wait.

Learn if you are eligible for student loan forgiveness and how to apply for student loan debt forgiveness. Also, avoid student loan debt scams recognize red flagsand find out which ones States tax student loan forgiveness.

Continue reading: I applied for a student loan refund. Now my forgiveness is more complicated | Borrowers of 8 million student loans will automatically receive debt forgivenessAutomatically

Who is Eligible for Student Loan Debt Forgiveness?

Under President Joe Biden’s plan, the Department of Education will do this cancel up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt for single borrowers making less than $125,000 per year or less than $250,000 for married borrowers or heads of household.

You may also be eligible for an additional $10,000 in relief if you received federal Pell grants while you were enrolled in college, totaling up to $20,000 in debt relief.

The White House assured borrowers that debt relief would be provided beforehand Payments for federal student loans will resume on January 1, 2023.

How do you apply for student debt relief?

Most of the estimated 40 million borrowers applying for student loan facilitation must apply for a waiver using the Department of Education’s online form. The department said although the form is for testing the application process, if you submit an application it will be processed and you will not have to resubmit it. The form takes about five minutes to fill out, the department said, and it will be available periodically until the department officially rolls out the application.

Note that if the Department of Education already has your income information on file, the Department may have enough information automatically waive your debt without submitting an application. This group, which qualifies automatically, can contain up to 8 million borrowers and mainly includes those who are enrolled income-based repayment schedules. The ministry still recommends filling out the form if you think you belong to this group, in case it doesn’t have enough information to automatically cancel debt.

If the department does not have your income information on file, you must complete the application to provide the information the department needs to determine if you are eligible for debt relief.

You don’t have to upload supporting documents or use your FSA ID to submit your application, the Department for Education said. The White House tweeted on October 11 a Preview the application. (Here’s a PDF image of the form.) The application is now regularly available across desktop and mobile browsers in English and Spanish versions, the department said.

Student Debt Relief Update:

Today, the US Department of Education is previewing the application form for student debt relief. Here’s the latest: pic.twitter.com/efSzRbions

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 11, 2022

Once you submit your application, it will be reviewed to determine if you are eligible for debt relief, and the department will work with your credit servicers to process your debt relief. The department said that after submitting the form, they will email you notifying you that your application has been successfully received, and the department will contact you if they have additional information such as proof of income needed.

What information do you need to apply for a student loan?

The Department of Education’s Student Loan Debt Relief Application has two sections: The first section, labeled “Borrower Information,” contains fields that you must complete to provide information the Department needs to determine your eligibility.

The application requires the following personal information from borrowers:

• Name (including a previous surname, if applicable)
• social security number
• Date of birth
• phone number
• Email-address

The second section, labeled “Review and Submit Agreement,” is an affidavit that you are eligible for debt relief. It asks borrowers to confirm that they are applying for loan forgiveness, that they are eligible based on income requirements, and that they will provide proof of income to the Department of Education upon request before March 31, 2024.

How do I access the Student Debt Relief Application?

The Department of Education said its online form to apply for federal student loan debt relief is now in beta form and will be available regularly as it prepares for the “official launch.”

The beta version of the form went live on Friday night and the form was often available on both desktop and mobile browsers through Saturday night. Anecdotally, we frequently searched for the desktop and mobile versions of the form and found that sometimes the application was available on desktop but not mobile, and sometimes vice versa. So check both to see if the beta version of the application is live. If the application isn’t available when you review it, the department said, “We appreciate your interest in debt relief and invite you to check back soon.”

What is the Deadline to Apply for Student Loan Debt Relief?

Eligible borrowers have until December 31, 2023 to apply for a waiver.

During a news conference on Aug. 26, Deputy Director of the National Economic Council Bharat Ramamurti said that after borrowers complete their applications, they “can expect relief within four to six weeks.” However, it’s not clear how postponing student debt relief to the proposed Oct. 23 date will affect that timeframe.

“Borrowers are advised to submit the application by around November 15 to receive relief before the payment freeze expires on December 31,” Ramamurti said.

To learn more about the student loan plan, go to the Department of Education’s subscriptions page and sign up to receive Federal Student Loan Borrower Updates, the first checkbox in a long list of educational topics.

If you made student loan payments during the moratorium, you can do so now Request a refund from your credit service provider. For anyone not eligible for student loan forgiveness—or who still owe money after debt forgiveness— Payments and interest will be paused until January 2023.