ATLANTA — The White House is out with a state-by-state breakdown of how many people should have all or part of their student loans forgiven.
President Joe Biden announced the plan in August. It will forgive as much as $20,000 of student loan debt for millions of Americans.
Nearly 40 million borrowers are eligible for relief. Many could see their entire remaining balances wiped clean.
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As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s student debt relief plan, the U.S. Department of Education will cancel up to $20,000 worth of debt for Pell Grant recipients and $10,000 worth of debt for those who did not receive Pell Grants, officials said. Borrowers who make more than $125,000 individually or $250,000 as a household are not eligible for the debt cancellation, according to authorities.
The White House has now revealed state-by-state data on the student debt relief.
Numbers from the White House estimate 1,506,100 Georgians are eligible for student debt relief. The estimated number of Pell borrowers eligible for student debt relief in Georgia is 1,039,100.
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Republicans have slammed the announced plan, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., calling it “socialism” and “a slap in the face to working Americans who sacrificed to pay their debt or made different career choices to avoid debt.”
“This policy is astonishingly unfair,” he said in a statement. “President Biden’s inflation is crushing working families, and his answer is to give away even more government money to elites with higher salaries.”
Who is eligible?
- First, the student loan cancellation Biden is talking about applies to those who have taken a federally-backed student loan.
- The amount you receive is capped at the amount of outstanding debt. For example, if you owe $18,000 in student loan debt, you will receive $18,000, not $20,000.
- You are eligible for debt cancellation if your annual income is less than $125,000 (for individuals) or $250,000 (for married couples or heads of households).
- If you received a Pell Grant in college and meet the income threshold, you will be eligible for up to $20,000 in debt cancellation.
- If you did not receive a Pell Grant in college and meet the income threshold, you will be eligible for up to $10,000 in debt cancellation.
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What do I do to get the loan forgiveness?
- If the U.S. Department of Education has your income data, you will likely have to do nothing to get the debt forgiven. If the DOE doesn’t have your income data — or if you don’t know if they do — look for an online application in the coming weeks.
- If you would like to be notified when the application is open, sign up at the Department of Education subscription page.
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