Biden admin teases new student loan forgiveness plans as repayments begin

The Department of Education is studying new ways to cancel student loans as payments begin this weekend.
Federal student loans have not accrued interest since March 2020 but will begin doing so again on Oct 1. Meanwhile, the Biden administration is moving forward on a series of new initiatives announced since the Supreme Court struck down its $400 billion student debt transfer in June.
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“The work of the Biden-Harris administration will make sure that student loans aren’t a barrier to opportunity, restore the promise of post-secondary education, and help build a stronger economy,” Undersecretary of Education James Kvaal said on a call with reporters.
The original student loan forgiveness plan rested on the HEROES Act of 2003, which was written with Iraq War veterans in mind, to cancel loans on the legal premise that the pandemic constituted a national emergency. That was struck down by the high court over the summer.
But a DOE release says the department is looking at using a different law, the Higher Education Act of 1965, to achieve similar ends.
A highlighted portion of that law reads, “in the performa …