Posted on 08/19/2021 8:38:38 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
The Biden administration announced Thursday it will automatically erase student loan debt for more than 300,000 Americans with severe disabilities that leave them unable to earn significant incomes.
The move will wipe out more than $5.8 billion in debt, according to the Education Department, and it marks the start of a broader overhaul of a program that has been criticized for having overly burdensome rules.
“We’ve heard loud and clear from borrowers with disabilities and advocates about the need for this change and we are excited to follow through on it,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement.
The federal government offers student debt relief for people who are “totally and permanently disabled” and have limited incomes. But the current rules require them to submit documentation of their disability and undergo a three-year monitoring period to prove they’re earning little pay.
Tens of thousands of people have been dropped from the program and had their loans reinstated simply because they failed to submit proof of their earnings, however, and critics say the complex rules deter some from applying.
Biden has asked the Education and Justice departments to assess the legality of mass debt cancellation. Cardona said Thursday that those conversations are “still under way.” Meanwhile, he said, his agency is working to improve other debt forgiveness programs that target specific groups of borrowers.
“It’s an effort to show that we are working to improve targeted loan relief and help our borrowers,” he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
Stephen Hawking did quite well for himself across several fields but maybe we should send his family a refund on his college expenses.
Force the Universities to use their $Billions in tax free endowments to payoff student loan debt.
I can understand the need for this but there are existing plans in place that allow for the loans to be forgiven if there is clear evidence of long term disability. And if the current rules are to hard to figure out then the solution is to make the rules easier and clearer rather than throw out the requirement to prove disability altogether.
Why not give people who actually work and pay taxes a $50,000 tax credit as a way to jumopstart the economy? (Then again, that's not too likely because people who actually work and pay taxes are probably more inclined to vote Republican.)
Inflation.
All you have to do is hire a lawyer and you too can be “disabled.”
It’s been happening with Social Security for decades.
why?? and what’s “severe” ?
That requires another read to understand fully.
I am a retired high school teacher and saw counselors and Special Ed advocates push these kids into a college prep path when it was obvious they would not be employable at any level. They disguised fraud as compassion to get the government bucks.
Thankfully under Obama, chronic unemployment was classified as a disability. </s>
Harvard alone could pay all them off with a few billion left over.
Depending on who you talk with on FR, I am considered an idiot. Major league idiot.
Would this qualify me for loan forgiveness?
All debts are paid.
Like being born with two feet than aren’t Caucasian.
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