Student loan forgiveness has restarted for a small number of Americans, according to experts.
The Education Department (ED) said in July it suspended forgiveness for Income Based Repayment (IBR) plans to update its systems to accurately account for qualifying monthly payments. The IBR plan cancels outstanding loan debt for borrowers after they’ve made 240 or 300 monthly payments – or about 20 to 25 years of payments, depending on the age of the loan.
Updates are being completed, and eligible borrowers will have their loans forgiven over the next several months unless they opt out, experts said. ED hasn't announced the debt cancellations, but industry experts report seeing and hearing about emails notifying borrowers from the department earlier this month.
News of a "trickle" of forgiveness is good, but "the big picture remains – hopes of global loan forgiveness have been dashed," said Stacey MacPhetres, senior director of education finance at EdAssist by Bright Horizons, which provides educational advisory services to organizations and families.
If loans are eligible for forgiveness, borrowers should receive an email saying so. "As always, borrowers are encouraged to be sure their contact information is accurate and updated with Federal Student Aid and with their loan servicers," for this and other reasons, MacPhetres said.
