Higher Ed Policy Roundup: Vol. 7 - Issue 32

Late last week, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC-05) sent a letter to Education Department (ED) Secretary Miguel Cardona requesting information on the one-time income driven repayment (IDR) payment adjustment initiative. Recall that, to account for previous IDR payment counting errors, ED forgave the student debt of more than 804,000 borrowers using a one-time account adjustment that counted months in repayment status and certain deferments and forbearances toward IDR forgiveness. Specifically, the lawmakers asked ED to provide them with the legal authority that permitted the forgiveness program as well as the methodology used to identify the borrowers who benefitted from forgiveness.

A document recently published by New America outlines the resources available to borrowers as they re-enter student loan repayment.

As four-year institutions are more commonly using algorithms to determine how much aid to offer admitted students, experts warn of the potential legal risk.

There were no relevant student-aid related bills recently introduced for consideration by the 118th Congress (2023-2024).