Student loan borrowers who received an email indicating their application for student debt forgiveness was approved – pending court litigation – received yet another email Tuesday, this one saying the subject line of the previous email was inaccurate.
The subject line of the previous email read: “Your Student Loan Debt Relief Application Has Been Approved”.
The latest email proved confusing to many student loan borrowers as it said the body of the previous email was accurate.
The email continued: “We have received your application but are not permitted to review your eligibility because of ongoing litigation. We will keep your application information and review your eligibility if and when we prevail in court.
“We apologize for the confusion, and you do not need to take any further action at this time. We will keep you updated with any developments.”
The previous email from the U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel A. Cardona read in part: “We received your application or have the income information to process you for loan relief. You do not need to take any further action at this time.”
It appears, then, that a borrower application has been processed, but likely due to ongoing litigation, the administration was told it couldn’t tell borrowers their application was approved until legal objections are settled.
The student loan payment pause was extended on federal loans until 60 days after the Education Department is permitted to implement the debt relief program, or the litigation is resolved.
“If the program has not been implemented and the litigation has not been resolved by June 30, 2023, payments will resume 60 days after that,” read an email sent Nov. 23 to borrowers from Cardona.
No borrower with a federally-held loan has been required to make a student loan payment since March 2020 when former President Donald Trump signed the CARES Act, pausing student loan payments and putting interest charges on hold for borrowers.
The Department of Education has said previously that 16 million borrowers have been approved for debt relief ranging from $10,000 to $20,000. The White House has said that up to 43 million borrowers should be eligible for relief but applications are on hold due to litigation.
As it stands now, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a second challenge to President Joe Biden’s forgiveness program. Arguments are scheduled to begin in late February or early in March.
“The letter of the law is clear: canceling student debt was legal when Joe Biden announced his historic debt relief plan in August and remains so today,” said Mike Pierce, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center. “In the wake of a series of radical decisions decimating fundamental rights Americans hold dear, the public now rightfully questions whether this court is interested in pursuing justice or upholding the rule of law.
“Once again, the credibility of the Supreme Court rests on its ability to recognize what we all know to be true: canceling student debt is legal and necessary to secure the financial futures of 40 million Americans. We remain confident that the President’s right-wing opponents will not bait him into becoming America’s student debt collector and will keep fighting in and out of court to keep his promise to cancel student debt.”
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Crystal Graham
