Federal Student Loan Forgiveness Plan Information
On August 25, President Biden announced a plan to forgive up to $20,000 of federal student loan debt for Pell Grant recipients, and up to $10,000 for other qualifying borrowers. Biden also extended the federal student loan payment pause through December 31.
This is welcome news for Berklee alumni, students, and all members of our community and their families; indeed, for those at colleges and universities nationwide. Below, you’ll find information about the loan forgiveness program that may be helpful to you.
To start, we recommend that borrowers go to studentaid.gov for more information and to sign up for automated emails that will provide updates. The Department of Education will introduce an application for loan forgiveness in the near future.
Some of the highlights of the program are:
- Borrowers who received Federal Pell Grants are eligible to have $20,000 in student loans forgiven if they are earning less than $125,000, or $250,000 per household.
- Other borrowers (who did not receive Pell Grants) are eligible to have $10,000 forgiven if they meet the income criteria above.
- Current students are eligible if they (or their parents, if students are dependent) meet the income criteria.
- Federal student loans, PLUS Loans, and Grad PLUS loans are eligible for forgiveness, and will be capped at either $10,000 (for those without Pell Grants) or $20,000 (for those who received Pell Grants).
- Loans must have been fully disbursed by June 30, 2022.
- Borrowers should check studentaid.gov for more information, including whether or not they received Federal Pell Grants while enrolled in school.
Please note that this program is administered by the U.S. Department of Education, and not by Berklee or the college or university you may have attended.
We will update this information as we learn more.