New deets emerge about student loan forgiveness
Image: Campbell Law Observer
The Department of Education launched a beta test of its new student loan forgiveness website on Friday. But procrastinators fear not – officials said there’s no advantage to applying before the full launch later this month, since applications won’t start being processed until then.
🎓🌐 More deets… The department said the beta portal (found here) will be available on-and-off for the next couple of weeks, as its technical team pauses the site for assessments, refinements, and maintenance.
- The overall application process reportedly takes five minutes to complete. Applicants only need their name, birthday, phone number, email, and SSN.
- No income verification documents are required, but applicants must attest to earning less than the income caps set for relief, either in 2020 or 2021 ($125,000 for individuals, $250,000 for couples filing jointly).
- The beta will end at an unspecified date later this month, at which point the app will be available to the public. It’ll remain open until December 2023 (more good news for procrastinators🥳).
⚖️ On the legal side of things: There have been a total of five lawsuits filed against the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness plan, three of which are still ongoing.
- The first major legal challenge involved an Indiana lawyer who argued he would be harmed by the cancellation tax burden in his state. That suit was later thrown out, after the Education Department announced borrowers could opt-out of relief.
👀 Looking ahead… Republican attorneys general from seven states sued to stop federal student loan forgiveness last month (AR, AZ, IA, KS, MO, NE, and SC). Decisions in those cases have yet to be handed down.
📊 Flash poll: Do you agree with President Biden’s decision to forgive some amount of federal student loans?
See a 360° view of what the media is saying →
Sprinkles from the Left
- Some commentators argue that Biden's plan to forgive student loans is an expensive commitment that could use a constitutional review to determine whether it's actually legal before loans start being forgiven.
- Others contend that Biden's student loan forgiveness plan acts as a counter-incentive to debtors, who will now become even more likely to borrow unwisely, since they expect the gov't to forgive their unpayable loans.
- “Biden’s costly student loan plan could use a constitutional review” –WaPo Editorial Board
- “Biden’s Student Loan Plan Has Issues” –Peter Coy, NY Times
- “Biden’s Student Loan Reforms Are a Looming Disaster” –Bloomberg Editorial Board
Sprinkles from the Right
- Some commentators argue that Biden's plan to forgive federal student loan debt is so riddled with flaws that it’s bound to eventually be reversed in court – it’s only a matter of time.
- Others contend that Biden’s plan is a shameless way for him to buy Democratic votes ahead of the coming midterms, at the expense of all American taxpayers.
- “Biden’s slapdash, election-season student loan gambit may be in trouble” –George F. Will, WaPo
- “President Biden forgave my student loans — I wish he hadn’t” –Brad Barber, Deseret News
- “How to stop the student loan bailout” –Washington Times Editorial Board
Share this!
Recent Discussion stories
Discussion
| October 14, 2022The latest inflation report was released yesterday
💵📈 The Consumer Price Index, America’s most widely-used measure of inflation, rose 8.2% in September from the same month a year ago, per gov’t data released yesterday.
Discussion
| October 12, 2022Financial conflicts of interest in the US government
🏛️💰 Since 2016, thousands of government officials in the executive branch have reported owning or trading stocks in companies that were directly affected by the decisions their agencies made, per a WSJ investigation published yesterday.
Discussion
| October 10, 2022The history of today
📅🎉 Today is officially Indigenous Peoples' Day (or a holiday of a similar name) in D.C. and five states. But in 35 other states, it's officially Columbus Day – and Indigenous Peoples' Day isn't celebrated. 9 states plus the federal gov't celebrate both holidays simultaneously, while Hawaii celebrates neither.
You've made it this far...
Let's make our relationship official, no 💍 or elaborate proposal required. Learn and stay entertained, for free.👇
All of our news is 100% free and you can unsubscribe anytime; the quiz takes ~10 seconds to complete