POLITICS: As the week progresses, In Washington a measure of relief followed the return of hostages among the more than 200 held in Hamas underground camps. While a greater level of peace reigns at the US government and among families whose loved ones have been returned to safety, US resident Joe Biden has turned the focus to the needs of students, pledging to provide 127 billion dollars in student loan debt relief.
By Michelle Crawford-Sapenter
"President Biden and I are borrowers whove been failed by by our country's broken and unaffordable student loan system."-- US Education Secretary, Miguel Cordoza
The most recently redo of the former plan devised by the US Department of Education, has been estab;lished under the Higher education Act . The plan will focus on categories of borrowers specifying forgiveness for hardship borrowers.
The administration has addressed matters involving more than 3 million US students via the SAVE Plan. The new student loan debt relief proposal contains steps that will provide for US students to benefit by the relief and assists negotiators with a consensual relief effort. according to the new plan a student must:
1). Have outstanding federal student loan(s) balances exceeding the originally borrowed amount
2). Have loans that entered repayment 25 or more years ago
3). Have taken loans for attending career training programns that created unreasonable debt loads or provided insufficient earnings for graduates as well as borrowers who attended institutions with unacceptably high stedent loan defaut rates.
4). Secretary of education will determine eligibility for forgiveness under repayment plan; income driven repayment or targeted relief programs like Public Service Loan forgiveness or closed school loan discharges with the exception of those who have not applied for the available relief.
The new plan has transcended the decision made by the US Supreme Court to strike down proposed relief plan developed by the US department of Education containing relief to 3.6 eligible students owing $20,000 in student loan debt. The total relief struck down by the US supreme Court totaled $400 million dollars.
In the month of Octiober, as the end of student loan payment hiatus arrived, the Biden administration announced an eligibility for an additional 125,000 US students adding another 9 billion dollars in student loan debt relief. The President , also, introduced a new 'on-ramp repayment plan for students engaging in the 12 month program. The ORP will assist with prevention of defaultingin the current repayment period. Biden added that the cap for discreetonary income paid toward student loan debt will be lowered from 10% to 5%.
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