From: Jessica Ranucci, Primary Negotiator for Consumer Advocates; Yael Shavit, Primary 

Negotiator Representing State Attorneys General; Kyra Taylor, Primary Negotiator 

Representing Legal Assistance Organizations that Represent Students or Borrowers; and 

John Whitelaw, Primary Negotiator for Individuals with Disabilities or Groups 

Representing Them

To: U.S. Department of Education 

Re: Technical edits to 34 C.F.R. § 30.80 to improve administrability of proposed debt relief 

Date: November 14, 2023 

Background: 

We are submitting these proposed revisions to the Departments proposed 34 C.F.R. § 30.80 (and 

a conforming update to the cross-references in § 30.83) in an effort to ease the administrability of 

debt relief provided by these regulations. Our goal in submitting these edits is not to provide 

alternative policies to the Department’s proposals (though we support certain alternative policies, 

and are suggesting them in other submissions). Rather, in the proposed text below, we are trying 

to make the Department’s current proposals easier to administer and/or we are providing 

technical corrections , taking into account the following principles:

• In our experience, loan documentation and repayment histories can be missing or 

incomplete, so we are proposing alternatives that either do not rely on reviewing these 

histories and/or provide a backstop for borrowers whose records are incomplete; 

• Debt relief will be simpler to administer without borrower eligibility criteria; 

• Making explicit the amount waiver and how waived balance is calculated for 

consolidation loans will make the relief easier to administer; and 

• For relief that will be provided on an ongoing basis, providing more general language 

preserves the Department’s flexibility to incorporate potential future regulatory or 

statutory changes and avoids potential confusion with independent regulatory authority 

that authorizes certain programs and relief. 

Proposed Regulatory Text: 

§ 30.80 Waiver of Federal student loan debts. 

(a) General. The Secretary may waive all or part of any debts 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, under the conditions described 

in this section including but not limited to those described in paragraphs 

(b)-(g) of this section. 

(b) Current balance exceeds the original principal balance. The Secretary may 

waive [all or a portion of ] the amount by which a borrower’s total 

outstanding balance exceeds the original principal balance of the loan, 

including if the loan is a Federal Consolidation Loan or a Direct 

Consolidation Loan, the total original principal balance of all loans repaid 

by such loan, if— 
(i) Tthe loan was infirst entered repayment for at least XX months by no 

later than July 1on or before August 1, 20245.; and 

[(ii) BORROWER ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS]. 

(c) First entered repayment 25 years ago. (1) The Secretary may waive the 

outstanding balance of a loan if the loan first entered was in repayment, 

including periods when the loan was in default, deferment, or forbearance, 

for at least 300 months by no later than on or before July 1, 200025. 

(2) For the purpose of this paragraphs (b) and (c), a loan enters repayment 

on— 

(i) For a Federal Stafford Loan, a Direct Subsidized Loan, or a Direct 

Unsubsidized Loan, the day after the initial grace period ends; 

(ii) For a Federal PLUS Loan or a Direct PLUS Loan, the day the loan is fully 

disbursed; or 

(iii) For a Federal Consolidation Loan or Direct Consolidation Loan, the 

earliest day as determined under paragraphs (c)(2)(i) and (ii) of this 

section for any loan that was repaid by that consolidation loan; or

(iv) For any loan for which accurate records are not available to make the

applicable calculation of the date any loan first entered repayment, the 

Secretary may use the date that is six months after the loan’s origination 

date in lieu of the date provided in subparagraphs (i) or (ii) or six months 

after the earliest loan’s origination date for any loan that was repaid by 

the consolidation loan in lieu of the date provided in subparagraph (iii).

(d) Forgiveness based upon repayment plan. (1) The Secretary may waive the 

outstanding balance of a loan where the Secretary determines that a borrower 

is not enrolled in, but otherwise meets the eligibility requirements apart 

from recertification requirements for forgiveness under— 

(i) An income-based repayment plan under § 682.215 or § 685.221; 

(ii) An income-contingent repayment plan under § 685.209; or 

(iii) An alternative repayment plan under § 685.208(l). 

(e) Targeted forgiveness programs. (1) The Secretary may waive up to the 

entire outstanding balance of a loan where the Secretary determines that a 

borrower has not successfully applied for, but otherwise meets the 

eligibility requirements for — 

(i) Public Service Loan Forgiveness under § 685.219; 

(ii) Closed School Discharge under § 674.33(g), § 682.402(d), or § 685.214; 

(iii) Borrower Defense to Repayment under part 685, subpart D; or 

(iv) aAny other loan discharge, cancellation, or forgiveness program under 

parts 674, 682 or 685. 

Commented [JR1]: Note that this proposed edit is 

designed to fix administrability of this sec�on but does not 

reflect many nego�ators' concerns that this proposal 

excludes many borrowers who should be en�tled to relief 

whose loans entered repayment a�er this date but who 

have accrued, or will accrue, many months in repayment, 

default, deferment, or forbearance.
(2) For any loan that that meets the criteria of paragraph (1) but that has 

been repaid by a Federal Consolidation Loan or Direct Consolidation Loan that 

has an outstanding balance, the Secretary may waive the portion of the 

outstanding balance of the Consolidation Loan attributable to the loan 

meeting the criteria of paragraph (1).

(3) For any loan that meets the criteria of paragraph (1) with respect to 

unpaid refund discharge under § 685.216 or 685.402(l), the Secretary may 

waive the portion of the outstanding balance of the loan or Consolidation 

Loan not to exceed the relief the borrower would be entitled to upon 

receiving that unpaid refund discharge.

(f) Gainful employment. (1) For loans received for enrollment in a gainful 

employment (GE) program, as described in 20 U.S.C. 1002(b)(1)(A)(i) and 

(c)(1)(A), the Secretary may waive repayment the outstanding balance if the 

following conditions are met: 

(i) The Secretary determines that the GE program has failed the debt-toearnings (D/E) rates measure, or has failed the earnings premium measure, 

under paragraph (f)(2) of this section in two out of any three consecutive 

award years for which the program’s D/E rates or earnings premium, as 

applicable, are calculated.

(ii) The borrower— 

(A) Completed the program and the borrower was in the cohort whose debt was 

used to calculate the failing D/E rates or earnings premium; or 

(B) Withdrew from the program within— 

(1) Four award years prior to the most recent award year in the cohort period 

used to calculate the failing D/E rates or earnings premium, for a bachelor’s 

degree, doctoral degree, or first professional degree program; 

(2) Two award years prior to the most recent award year in the cohort period 

used to calculate the failing D/E rates or earnings premium for an associate 

or master’s degree program; or 

(3) The same award year as the most recent award year in the cohort period 

used to calculate the failing D/E rates or earnings premium for a certificate 

program. 

(iii) The borrower did not submit an acknowledgment under § 668.605. 

(2) For the purpose of this paragraph (f)— 

(i) The Secretary calculates D/E rates and the earnings premium in accordance 

with §§ 668.403, 668.404, and 668.405, beginning with the first award year 

that the Secretary calculates D/E rates and the earnings premium for a 

program under part 668, subpart Q; and 

(ii) For award years 2015-2022 and any subsequent award year where the 

Secretary does not calculate D/E rates and the earnings premium for a program 

under part 668, subpart Q for reasons other than those described in § 

668.403(f) or § 668.404(d), as applicable, the Secretary will calculate the 
measures by [using available data and a methodology that reasonably 

approximates those described in §§ 668.403, 668.404, and 668.405]. 

(g) Cohort default rates. For loans received for attendance at an institution 

that lost its eligibility to participate in any title IV, HEA program because 

of its high cohort default rate, as defined in 20 U.S.C. 1085(m), the 

Secretary may waive the outstanding balance repayment of the loan provided 

that the borrower was included in the cohort whose debt was used to calculate 

the cohort default rate.

§ 682.403 Waiver of FFEL Program loan debt.

Waivers.

(1) The Secretary may waive the outstanding balance on an FFEL Program loan 

if the loan would qualify for a waiver under--

(i) 34 CFR 30.80(c);

(ii) 34 CFR 30.80 (d)(1)(i); or

(iii) 34 CFR 30.80 (e)(1)(ii) and (e)(1)(iv). 

(2) After determining that a loan qualifies for a waiver under paragraph 

(a)(1) of this section, the Secretary may direct the lender to submit a claim 

to the guaranty agency so the loan can be assigned to the Secretary.

(3) After the loan is assigned, the Secretary may waive all or a portion of 

the loan in accordance with 34 CFR 30.80.

(b) Lender and guaranty agency actions.

(1) If the Secretary determines that a loan qualifies for a waiver under 

paragraph (a)(1) of this section— 

(i) The Secretary notifies the lender that the loan qualifies for a waiver;

(ii) The lender must submit a claim to the guaranty agency, within 60 days of 

the date the lender received the notification, that includes the following 

documentation:

(A) An original or a true and exact copy of the promissory note.

(B) The notification described in paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section.

(2) If the claim meets the requirements of paragraph (b)(1)(ii) of this 

section, the guaranty agency must pay the claim submitted by the lender.

(3) The Secretary reimburses the guaranty agency for a claim paid to the 

lender after the agency pays the claim to the lender.

(4) The guaranty agency must assign the loan to the Secretary within 45 days 

of the date the guaranty agency pays the claim and receives the reimbursement 

payment or within 45 days of the date the guaranty agency receives the 

notification described in paragraph (a)(2) of this section if the guaranty 

agency is the lender.