During the US Senate Committee on Heath, Education, Labor & Pensions hearing for the nomination of James Kvaal to serve as Undersecretary of Education on April 15, 2021, we saw a few Congress members ask Mr. Kvaal questions about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. We’ve learned that the 3 areas of possible student loan forgiveness proposed by President Biden:
At 1:02:57: “In the area of student debt cancellation, President Biden has proposed some forms of loan forgiveness.”
- “There’s a temporary measure related to hardship related/due to the pandemic and economic emergency.”
- “Making the public service loan program work.”
- “Forgiving debts for people with particularly high debts and low incomes.”
At 1:20:14, Mr. Kvaal restates the 3 areas: “President Biden has talked about loan forgiveness in a couple of different categories.”
- “Some relief now for people struggling with the pandemic and the economic emergency.”
- “Additional relief in the areas of public loan forgiveness.”
- “And also for students with particularly high debts and low incomes.”
While we don’t know the exact details such as the amount of student loan forgiveness ($10,000 vs $50,000) or even who will qualify, it looks like the Department of Education will be heading towards the direction of loan forgiveness and will soon provide borrowers with some much needed relief.