UNDATED – More than 3,000 South Dakotans qualify for a combined $147 million in student debt relief offered by a new Biden administration policy, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
The Department of Education and the White House announced last week that more than 800,000 federal student loan borrowers across the country will have their remaining debt eliminated. The department released state-by-state numbers Tuesday.
The $39 billion in debt relief will come through fixes to mismanagement of the agency’s income-driven repayment plans. Many long-time borrowers, including those who had been making payments for 20 years or more, were denied relief they were eligible for under the repayment plans. Qualified payments that were made were not accounted for.
“For far too long, borrowers fell through the cracks of a broken system that failed to keep accurate track of their progress towards forgiveness,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement.
Starting Friday, the Department of Education began notifying those 804,000 borrowers of their forgiveness, and within 30 days their debts will be wiped out.
The plan includes borrowers with Direct Loans or Federal Family Education Loans held by the department (including Parent PLUS loans of either type) who have reached a forgiveness threshold specified by the department.
“By fixing past administrative failures, we are ensuring everyone gets the forgiveness they deserve, just as we have done for public servants, students who were cheated by their colleges, and borrowers with permanent disabilities, including veterans,” Cardona said.
