ED Announces Early Implementation of Student Loan Forgiveness for Borrowers Enrolled in SAVE Plan
Maria Carrasco
January 16, 2024
The Department of Education (ED) on Friday announced that starting in February, eligible borrowers enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment plan will have their federal student loan debt forgiven as part of an early implementation of a SAVE plan provision.
The borrowers eligible for this student loan forgiveness must be enrolled in the SAVE repayment plan, have at least 10 years of repayment history, and have originally borrowed $12,000 or less in federal student loans.
Under the SAVE plan, the maximum time frame for repayment is 20 years for undergraduate debt and 25 years for debt incurred for graduate or professional study. A provision of the final rule of the SAVE plan indicates that low-balance borrowers can see student loan forgiveness in as few as 10 years if their original principal balance was less than $12,000. Additionally, for each $1,000 borrowed above $12,000, a borrower can receive forgiveness after an additional year of payments.
Initially, this provision would have become effective on July 1, 2024. However, ED stated through the Federal Register that it would implement this provision early through its authority under the Higher Education Act (HEA) on January 21.
Here’s an up-to-date timeline on implementation of various provisions of the SAVE plan:
