Skip Main Navigation
Skip Navigation
  1. Home
  2. Financial Aid - You Can Afford College!
  3. Student Loan Forgiveness

Student Loan Forgiveness

The Department of Education will provide up to $20,000 in debt cancellation to Pell Grant recipients with loans held by the Department of Education, and up to $10,000 in debt cancellation to non-Pell Grant recipients. Borrowers are eligible for this relief if their individual income is less than $125,000 ($250,000 for married couples). No high-income individual or high-income household – in the top 5% of incomes – will benefit from this action. To ensure a smooth transition to repayment and prevent unnecessary defaults, the pause on federal student loan repayment will be extended one final time through December 31, 2022. Borrowers should expect to resume payment in January 2023.

You're eligible for student loan debt relief if your annual federal income was below $125,000 (individual or married, filing separately) or $250,000 (married, filing jointly or head of household) in 2021 or 2020.

  • $20,000 in debt relief: If you received a Pell Grant in college and meet the income threshold, you'll be eligible for up to $20,000 in debt relief.
  • $10,000 in debt relief: If you did not receive a Pell Grant in college and meet the income threshold, you'll be eligible for up to $10,000 in debt relief.

Here's what you can do to get ready and to make sure you get our updates:

  • Log in to your account on StudentAid.gov and make sure your contact info is up to date. We'll send you updates by both email and text message, so make sure to sign up to receive text alerts. If it's been a while since you've logged in, or you can't remember if you have an account username and password (FSA ID), we offer tips to help you access your account.
  • If you don't have a StudentAid.gov account (FSA ID), you should create an account to help you manage your loans.
  • Make sure your loan servicer has your most current contact information so they can reach you. If you don't know who your servicer is, you can log in and see your servicer(s) in your account dashboard.

The application to receive President Joe Biden's student loan cancellation opened on Friday evening for beta testing.

Borrowers who submit their applications during the testing period won't need to resubmit an application once the site officially launches and should receive a confirmation email once their application is submitted. 

During this beta testing period, the application will be available intermittently, according to ED. If a borrower tries to apply and the website is down, they can try again later — either during the testing period or when the site officially launches. 

Beta test site to apply for Federal Student Loan Debt Relief

ED recommends borrowers submit their application by November 15 to receive relief before the pause on student loan repayments ends on Dec. 31, 2022.