Higher Ed Policy Roundup: Vol. 6 - Issue 27

On Monday, the Education Department (ED) launched the official application for borrowers to apply for student debt forgiveness. Recall that the Biden-Harris Administration announced a plan to provide up to $20,000 in forgiveness for Pell recipients and $10,000 in forgiveness for all other Direct Loan borrowers. A beta version of the site, which was launched on Friday to test for bugs and glitches, drew in more than eight million applications for forgiveness and the official site drew in four million more within 24 hours of its release. ED estimates that more than 40 million borrowers are eligible for forgiveness and the Congressional Budget Office estimates that $430 billion in student loans will be canceled. Borrowers will have until December 31, 2023 to apply for forgiveness. 

Yesterday, two courts weighed in on challenges to the Biden-Harris Administration’s debt forgiveness plan. First, the Supreme Court declined to take up an emergency appeal by a group of Wisconsin taxpayers who claim the debt forgiveness plan violates their constitutional rights. Meanwhile, a federal judge in the Eastern District of Missouri rejected, for lack of standing, the case brought by six Republican-led states that claim the forgiveness plan would harm the states’ fiscal interests. The states are expected to appeal the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit. 

Debt relief could be the focus of GOP lawmakers next Congress.

New data show that student loan relief and payment progress are crucial for mental health and financial stability amid economic uncertainty.
 

There were no relevant student-aid related bills recently introduced for consideration by the 117th Congress (2021-2022).