Education Department Proposes New Plan For Student Loan Debt
The U.S. Department of Education has released sweeping plans for regulations aimed at improving student loan relief programs.
“We are committed to fixing a broken system. If a borrower qualifies for student loan relief, it shouldn’t take mountains of paperwork or a law degree to obtain it,” the U.S. Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona announced, according to CBS News.
“Student loan benefits also should not be so hard to get that borrowers never actually benefit from them. The Biden-Harris Administration is determined to build a more accessible, affordable, and accountable student loan system. These proposed regulations will protect borrowers and save them time, money, and frustration, and will hold their colleges responsible for wrongdoing.”
According to the Education Department website, the Biden Administration is working on improving the student loan system for the long-term through the proposed regulations released today. A total of nearly $26 billion in targeted student loan relief has already been approved by the administration.
By reducing time, money, and frustration for borrowers, these proposed regulations would protect them. Moreover, colleges would be held more accountable if they committed any wrongdoing.
In order to accomplish this, the administration is taking a number of targeted steps. By eliminating certain factors that can serve as roadblocks for borrowers seeking debt relief, we can improve protections against misleading recruitment practices. The Education Dept. can remove interest capitalization, broaden relief options for people with disabilities, and simplify the relief application process for all borrowers.
“Borrowers should not have to jump through hoops to get the relief they deserve," said James Kvaal, Under Secretary of Education in the Education Department statement. “The regulations we’ve proposed today would remove many of those barriers and help create a federal student loan system that works better for borrowers.”
