The U.S Department of Education has released a beta version of the highly anticipated student loan forgiveness application. The early site, which went live Friday (October 14) will allow borrowers to apply before the official application release later this month, which is going live no earlier than October 23.
In August, President Biden announced that borrowers making less than $125,000 a year ($250,000 for married couples) would qualify for $10,000 forgiveness on federal loans, or $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients. However, since then, multiple lawsuits have been filed against the president’s executive order. This has pushed back the application release, which was due to be out in early October.
Filling out the application takes less than five minutes and only asks for basic information — name, social security number, date of birth, phone number and email address. It also requires the applicant to agree to send proof of income to the U.S. Department of Education by March 21, 2024 if requested.
Once you submit your application, you’ll receive a confirmation email and are encouraged to be on the lookout for any further updates. The deadline to submit your student loan forgiveness application will be December 31, 2023.
With the release of the beta application, the Department of Education plans on getting a head-start on addressing potential problems that may arise as more people file. Doing so will help them fix any pressing issues by the time the official version goes live.
If you do decide to go ahead and fill the application out now, just know it won’t be processed until the site’s formal launch. However, you won't have to reapply later in the month when the official version launches.
