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New Biden Student Loan Plan Cuts Payments for Millions, White House Says

Submitted by jhartgen@abi.org on

The Biden administration on Tuesday said it was overhauling student loan repayment plans, seeking to make payments more affordable by reducing the amount owed each month and curbing unpaid interest, Reuters reported. The changes would save $1,000 a year for the typical borrower and $2,000 a year on loans taken by a typical graduate of a four-year U.S. public college or university, the White House and the Department of Education said, adding that tens of millions of Americans are eligible to enroll in the plan. President Joe Biden is pursuing sweeping student debt relief actions through various approaches even as U.S. courts have blocked certain pieces of his plan. The U.S. Supreme Court in June blocked one rule that would have canceled $430 billion in student loan debt for 43 million borrowers, while a federal appeals court earlier this month halted a rule that would have made it easier for students who had been defrauded by for-profit colleges to have their loans forgiven. Under the Saving on A Valuable Education (SAVE) income-driven repayment plan announced on Tuesday, the amount qualified borrowers have to pay each month on their undergraduate loans will be cut from 10 percent to 5 percent of discretionary income. About 1 million more low-income borrowers will qualify for no monthly payments at all. Loan balances will also not grow because of unpaid interest as long as borrowers make the required monthly payments, it added. Loans could be forgiven in as little as 10 years for borrowers who qualify, down from 20 or 25 years for previous income-driven plans.