Biden admin moves to fix "longstanding failures" in student loan programs

[AZProgressive]

The Department of Education on Tuesday announced new steps to address "longstanding" and "inexcusable failures" in federal student loan programs.

(Snip)

State of play: The department, via rulemaking, will review how income-driven repayment (IDR) plans are administered, adding that it has found "significant flaws that suggest borrowers are missing out on progress toward IDR forgiveness," according to a press release.

It is also moving to end "forbearance steering," which happens when loan services place borrowers into forbearance without giving adequate information about their alternatives, including IDR plans, which make it easier for borrowers to pay back loans if their debt is high when compared to their income.

(Snip)

The department said that their actions will result in the immediate student loan debt cancellation of at least 40,000 borrowers under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, and thousands more will become eligible for loan discharge under IDR.

https://www.axios.com/biden-education-student-loan-debt-failures-4e4ee29f-7677-4bf5-b0b7-bf03e58c5cee.html

[Hoyt]

1. Seems Income-Driven loan repayments will really help, especially if

thresholds to determine how much one “can” pay are fairer than before, loan balances are properly forgiven after years of adherence to payment schedules, etc.

[mcar]

2. Glad to see this. nt

[Budi]

3. Yes. The fix has to come from the Dept of Ed itself, Biden can NOT Executive Order it away

Contrary to what some Senior Leaders have been falsly blasting to the base.
They knew it too, even as they declared that falshood.

[FBaggins]

5. The Dept of Ed is part of the Executive branch

Anything they can do... the president can't order them to do. They work for him.

But the current debate re: blanket debt forgiveness (whether $10k or some other amount) is well beyond what it being discussed in this article. Neither Education nor POTUS himself has the power to do that absent Congressional action to that effect.

[Budi]

6. Correct. The "president can't order them to do" what's being demanded of him by some Leaders

Those same disingenuous leaders are all multimillionaires, among the wealthy members of Congress, yet constantly harangue President Biden can 'wipe out student debt with a stroke of their pen'!. All they have to do is write a law or write a check. Or approach the matter as a bill to the Dept of Ed & pass it for Biden to sign.

This correction from the Dept of ED shows who holds the power to change & improve the loan debacle, & those laws once passed by legislative bodies before.

Point being, The Matter Lies Within The Dept of Education to bring a needed correction.

Not blasting falshoods on soc media.
Each one of those leaders has the power to write & pass the bill they're demanding Biden do. Which he can't, because that would be usurping the powers of the purse, Congress.

And they know it.

[jimfields33]

4. I think the loans signed for should have zero interest rates

But should be paid since they are the ones who asked for them. No need for making money on the loans though. That would greatly help.