For borrowers on an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan, the Department of Education has announced a one-time payment change that will count specific months toward student debt forgiveness. This is considered a means to assist certain debtors in paying down their debt, as previously reported by GOBankingRates. U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona has remarked that student debts were never intended to be a life sentence, but it is possible that debtors feel that way in order to be denied debt relief.
According to the Department of Education, loan servicers may have placed borrowers in patience when their monthly payment under an IDR might have been $0. But, after this is addressed by the department, some borrowers may be able to exit the summer with no outstanding student loan debt. According to the agency, regardless of repayment arrangement, all months in which debtors make payments will count toward IDR.
Borrowers on most IDR plans are forgiven after 20 years of payments, so if this describes you, contact your student loan servicer to see whether you qualify for a one-time payment modification. Whether or not the Supreme Court approves Biden’s student loan forgiveness scheme, you might be one step closer to being debt-free (Allcot, 2023).