Deadlines to know for student loan debt forgiveness

ATLANTA - Federal student loan debt forgiveness has been announced. For some of you, debt forgiveness will happen automatically. For others, there are deadlines. One is more than year out. Another is in two months. And if you miss it, you’ve missed that opportunity.

Quick primer on what’s happening. Debt forgiveness will be $10,000, or $20,000 if you have a Pell Grant, but there are salary limits here. You are eligible if you make less than $125,000 for a single person, $250,000 for a couple. The White House says 90 percent of those whose debt will be forgiven make less than $75,000 a year.

Here are the deadlines: About 8 million people will have to do nothing. If your financial information is already in the Department of Education system, then you are automatically enrolled. If you are not, an online application will be offered likely in October. With the money to be dispersed in four to six weeks, so that would be mid November. To get your financial relief by year’s end, you will need to have applied by Nov. 15. Your final deadline for filing for federal student loan debt forgiveness will be December 31, 2023.

Student loan borrowers gather near The White House to tell President Biden to cancel student debt on May 12, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for We, The 45 Million)

Now there is a separate category to look at and a different deadline here. There is also Public Service Loan Forgiveness. If you’ve worked in public service for 10 years - federal, state, local, or tribal governments, even some non-profits - you could have all of your loan forgiven. 

Here’s another deadline. Oct. 31st of this year - 2022. You have to be with a qualifying employer and worked there 10 years or 120 months. What loans qualify is more complicated, read the federal guidelines: PSLF INFORMATION.