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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

OFFICE OF POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION

EDITED Proposed Regulatory Text

Student Debt Relief

Negotiated Rulemaking, Session 4

February 22-23, 2024

34 CFR PART 30—DEBT COLLECTION 

Subpart G— Waiver of Federal Student Loan Debts

§ 30.91 Forgiveness Waiver due to likely impairment of 

borrower ability to repay or undue costs of collection. 

(a) The Secretary may waive up to the outstanding balance of a 

loan owed to the Department arising under the Federal Family 

Education Loan Program authorized under title IV, part B, of the 

HEA, the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program authorized 

under title IV, part D, of the HEA, the Federal Perkins Loan 

Program authorized under title IV, part E, of the HEA, and the 

Health Education Assistance Loan Program authorized by sections 

701–720 of the Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C. 292–292o, 

when the Secretary determines that a borrower has experienced or 

is experiencing hardship related to such a loan such that the 

hardship is likely to impair the borrower’s ability to fully 

repay the Federal government or the costs of enforcing the full 
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amount of the debt are not justified by the expected benefits of 

continued collection of the entire debt.

(b) Factors that substantiate hardship. In determining whether 

a borrower meets the conditions described in paragraph (a) of 

this section, the Secretary may consider any indicators of 

hardship related to the borrower, including but not limited to--

(1) Household income;

(2) Assets;

(3) Type of loans and total debt balance owed for loans 

described in paragraph (a) of this section, including those not 

owed to the Department;

(4) Current repayment status and other repayment history 

information;

(5) Student loan total debt balances and required 

payments, relative to household income;

(6) Total consumer debt balances and required payments, 

relative to household income; 

(7) Receipt of a Pell Grant and other information from the 

FAFSA form;

(8) Sector Type and level of institution attended; 

(9) Typical student outcomes associated with at the last a 

program or programs attended;
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(10) Whether the borrower has completed any postsecondary 

certificate or degree program for which they received title IV, 

HEA financial assistance;

(11) Age; 

(12) Disability;

(13) Age of the borrower’s loan based upon first 

disbursement or the disbursement of loans repaid by a

consolidation loan;

(14) Receipt of means-tested public benefits;

(15) High-cost burdens for essential expenses, such as 

healthcare, caretaking, and housing; 

(16) The extent to which hardship is likely to persist;

and

(17) Any other indicators of hardship identified by the 

Secretary.

(c) Immediate relief for borrowers likely to default. The 

Secretary may consider any indicators of hardship related to the 

borrower, including but not limited to the factors described in 

paragraph (b) of this section to discharge waive all or part of 

the federally held student loans of borrowers who the Secretary 

determines based on data in the Secretary’s possession have 

experienced or are experiencing hardship such that their loans 

are at least 80 percent likely to be in default in the next two 

years after [insert publication date of the regulations].
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(d) Process for additional relief. In exercising the authority 

described in paragraph (a) of this section, the Secretary may 

rely on data in the Secretary’s possession that may have been or

acquired through an application or any other means to provide 

relief, including automated relief, based on criteria 

demonstrating the conditions described in paragraph (a).