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Data Biden-Harris Administration Continues Rulemaking Process to Provide Debt Relief for More Student Loan Borrowers
                                                          Biden-Harris Administration Continues Rulemaking Process to Provide Debt Relief for More Student Loan Borrowers
U.S. Department of Education to host a fourth negotiated rulemaking session in February identifying ways to provide debt relief to borrowers experiencing hardship across the country
January 31, 2024
**Contact:** Press Office, (202) 401-1576, press@ed.gov
The Biden-Harris Administration today announced that it will  hold an additional negotiated rulemaking session on February 22 and 23 focused  on the issue of providing relief for borrowers experiencing hardship. This  session is a continuation of the critical work that started last summer when  the Administration announced it would be pursuing a new regulatory process to  deliver student debt relief to as many borrowers as possible. These efforts  build on the Administration’s approval of more than $136.6 billion in targeted  relief for over 3.7 million Americans through various actions.
The session will focus  exclusively on the issues related to hardship, including regulatory text  provided at least a week in advance for review by the negotiators and the  public. Sessions will be held virtually from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. eastern time.  There will also be one hour of public comment from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the end  of the first day.
“The Biden-Harris  Administration will never stop working to deliver student debt relief for  borrowers,” said Under Secretary James Kvaal. “We look forward to discussing  another avenue for borrower relief related to hardship at our next negotiation  session.”
The Department is separately continuing its work on draft rules covering the other  issues discussed at the third session, for publication later this year. This  includes relief for borrowers whose balances exceed what they originally  borrowed, who first entered repayment long ago, who are eligible for relief but  have not applied for it, or who attended programs or institutions that failed  to provide sufficient financial value. Those issues will not be discussed at  this session because the Department has already sought consensus on that  regulatory text.
Updates  on the student debt relief negotiated rulemaking process will be posted here. This includes a transcript and archived video of the sessions.  Members of the public who wish to view the sessions or provide public testimony  can also find a link on that page where they can register to do so. The public  will have an opportunity to submit written comments on the draft rules when  they are published later this year.
**Continuing to provide debt relief and support borrowers**
Today’s  announcement builds on the work the Biden-Harris Administration has already  done to improve the student loan program and make higher education more  affordable. This includes approving over $136.6 billion in relief for more than  3.7 million borrowers through various actions, including:
**$45.7 billion for 930,500 borrowers through administrative adjustments to IDR** payment counts that have brought borrowers closer to forgiveness and address longstanding concerns with the misuse of forbearance by loan servicers. ****
  **$56.7 billion for 793,400 borrowers through PSLF.**This includes borrowers who have benefitted from the Biden-Harris Administration’s limited PSLF waiver as well as regulatory improvements made to the program by the Administration.      Prior to the Biden-Harris Administration’s fixes to PSLF, only about 7,000       borrowers had ever received forgiveness.
  **$11.7 billion for almost 513,000 borrowers with a total and permanent disability.**
  **$22.5 billion for more than 1.3 million borrowers who were cheated by their schools, saw their institutions precipitously close, or are covered by related court settlements.******The Biden-Harris Administration remains committed to making  college more affordable and also ensuring student debt is not a roadblock to  obtaining a college degree or credential and planning for the future. The Administration launched the most affordable student loan repayment plan  ever—the SAVE Plan—last year, has made the largest increase to Pell Grants in a  decade, and has charted a course to double the maximum Pell Grant and make  community college free to enhance college affordability and reduce student  debt. The Administration is also holding institutions accountable for  unaffordable debts and recently finalized regulations that would set standards  for graduate earnings and debt outcomes for career programs, while enhancing  transparency for all programs to give students the information they need to  make informed choices.
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