Report: Biden Will Push For $10,000 In Student Loan Forgiveness And Extension Of Student Loan Pause – Forbes
President-Elect Joe Biden’s transition team indicated on Friday that as one of his first acts in office, he will direct the Department of Education to extend the existing moratorium on student loan payments, interest, and collections, and will push Congress to enact $10,000 in student loan forgiveness per borrower.
The additional student loan relief could be rolled into a larger stimulus package, which now stands a greater chance of becoming law with a Democratic takeover of the Senate. The current moratorium on student loan payments, interest, and collections was first enacted in March 2020, and after being extended twice by the Trump administration, it is scheduled to expire on January 31.
It is unclear how far a new extension would go, although congressional Democrats had previously called for an extension to September 2021. Congressional Democrats could potentially also expand the payment freeze to cover additional student loans that were excluded from the original CARES Act legislation, such as commercially issued FFEL-program loans and federal Perkins loans, although Biden has not confirmed whether he would push for this.