The application procedure for student loan forgiveness started officially with President Joe Biden on Monday. Eight million students have applied for loan relief already, during which the program dedicated to student debt forgiveness was launched as a trial over the last weekend.
The process
The President asked students eligible for debt relief to go to the official website studentaid.gov and fill out the application form. The form can be filled up in just five minutes, said Biden while announcing the official kick-start of the program. A beta version of the form was available online from Friday onwards, and the President mentioned that the online application process also was relatively smooth.
Biden’s stand
Joe Biden called it a “life-changing relief” that over eight million Americans were about to get soon in the form of loan forgiveness.
During the soft or test launch of the program, the number of applicants already amounted to over one-fourth of the total applicants estimated by the administration. Biden launched the program to relieve the borrowers from their student debts of $10,000 if their incomes are less than $125,000 per year or their family incomes are less than $250,000 per year. The program also includes an additional $10,000, which would be granted to the college students receiving federal Pell Grants, making twenty million students eligible for student loans forgiven entirely.
The program gained immense popularity even before its start, and numerous borrowers wanted to get debt free.
Keeping the commitment
Joe Biden promised to launch this program when he was fighting the presidential elections but couldn’t implement it soon after his win because of several issues, including questions arising on its legality. There were debates, and the Republicans said it was unfair.
Biden defended his stand while announcing the program and said that he aimed to work for the people and he just kept the commitment by launching the loan forgiveness program.
