The Trump administration has identified more than 40,000 borrowers eligible for federal student loan forgiveness in January, a recent court filing revealed.
More than 10,800 of the borrowers who qualified for the debt cancellation were enrolled in the U.S. Department of Education’s Income-Based Repayment Plan; another over 10,700 were in the Income-Contingent Repayment Plan; and 820 borrowers were enrolled in the Pay as You Earn Repayment Plan.
Those three programs are all known as income-driven repayment plans. IDRs limit a borrower’s monthly bill to a share of their discretionary income and cancel any remaining debt after a certain period, typically 20 or 25 years.
Another 18,160 federal student loan borrowers had their debts cancelled in January through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, the Education Department said in its recent court filing. Signed into law in 2007 by President George W. Bush, PSLF offers debt cancellation to those who’ve worked for 10 years at certain not-for-profit organizations or the federal government.
The January numbers suggest the Trump administration is increasing its efforts to ease the financial burden of student loan debt.
