President Joe Biden announced in August that he would be implementing a student loan forgiveness plan that could help millions of people who took out loans during their college careers.
The plan stated that individuals who make under $125,000 a year or households that earn under $250,000 would be getting $10,000 wiped from their debts. Also, federal Pell grant recipients would get an additional $10,000 wiped from their balances as well.
According to statistics from the White House website, Black students and students of color will more than likely receive the full $20,000 of relief as a large portion of them are Pell grant recipients.
The beta version of the application was released in late October. Twenty-six million applications were sent in and 16 million of them were approved.
As of November 11th, the Federal Student Aid website is no longer accepting applications due to multiple federal courts blocking the plan, with one court in the state of Texas even claiming the process undertaken by the president was “illegal.”
“Courts have issued orders blocking our student debt relief program,” said an announcement on the Federal Student Aid website. “As a result, at this time, we are not accepting applications. We are seeking to overturn those orders.”
Currently, the Biden administration is looking to get the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the decision of the lower court in order to continue with the process.
“This is critical breathing room that many middle-class families were looking forward to,” said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a recent press briefing. “And it’s outrageous — just outrageous —that Republican officials and special interest groups are trying to block that, are trying to make it harder for these middle-class Americans across the country.”
Resolving this issue could take weeks or even months depending on if the Supreme Court decides to act on it.
With student loan payments to resume Dec. 31, Biden is already considering extending the student loan payment pause, hoping to give temporary relief to those with student debt while they try to get the student loan forgiveness program back up and running as soon as possible.
Many were excited at the opportunity to be relieved of debt that could affect their adult lives. Now, they can only wait to see what takes place in the upcoming months and if the program will be resumed.