(NEXSTAR) — As many as 43 million Americans are expected to have some or all of their federal student loans forgiven by the Biden administration in the coming weeks.
If you qualify, there are a few dates to be aware of to make sure you receive your loan relief.
October
According to the U.S. Department of Education, nearly 8 million borrowers may qualify for automatic student loan forgiveness based on data the department already has. For the remaining roughly 35 million borrowers, an application is required to receive relief.
An exact date for when that application will open hasn’t been released but the Education Department says you can expect it “by early October 2022.” It will initially be an online form with a paper version being made available “at a future date.”
You can register to be notified when the application is available through the Department of Education by filling out this form.
November 15
To receive your student loan forgiveness before the payment pause ends (more on that in a moment), the Education Department recommends applying for relief before November 15.
Doing so will ensure you receive your loan discharge before regular payments resume and interest begins accruing again.
Officials say borrowers will see forgiveness applied to their loan balances within four to six weeks after completing the application.
January 1, 2023
If your entire loan balance won’t be erased – which is likely for some 23 million borrowers – President Biden has extended the payment pause through the end of the year.
But come Jan. 1, 2023, interest will begin accruing again, and regular payments will resume. He has indicated the pause will not be extended again.
December 31, 2023
As of now, borrowers will have until the end of 2023 to apply for this one-time student loan forgiveness, according to the Department of Education.
Exact details about how the federal debt forgiveness will be administered haven’t been released yet. We do know that loan type and your income impact your eligibility for loan relief, and that you could see as much as $20,000 in forgiveness.
Once you’ve applied for and been approved for student loan forgiveness, the Education Department says your loan servicer will notify you when relief has been applied to your account.
In addition to student loan forgiveness, the Biden administration has proposed a new rule to change to create a new income-driven repayment plan that will substantially reduce future monthly payments for lower- and middle-income borrowers, and proposed long-term changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.