Summary
The Trump administration has restarted a student loan forgiveness program called the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan after it was paused in July. Borrowers who qualify have begun to receive notifications for loan forgiveness, especially those who have made 20 to 25 years of qualifying payments.
Key Facts
- The Education Department resumed the IBR student loan forgiveness program after a pause since July.
- About 2 million Americans are part of the IBR plan, and some are now receiving debt cancellation.
- Loan forgiveness began last week for those with at least 20 or 25 years of payments.
- Borrowers receive emails indicating their eligibility for loan discharge.
- The program pause coincided with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that limits repayment options.
- IBR payments are based on income and family size, with remaining debt possibly forgiven after 20 or 25 years.
- Some borrowers might choose to opt-out of forgiveness to avoid state taxes on forgiven debt.
- Over 74,500 applications are pending under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
