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Education Department and AFT Reach Court Deal to Restart Student-Loan Forgiveness Processing

The deal places the agency under court reporting to accelerate cancellations.

Overview

  • The joint agreement, filed Oct. 17 and awaiting court approval, would resume cancellations for borrowers in IBR, the original ICR, and PAYE, and restart PSLF buybacks.
  • Education officials must submit six monthly progress reports to the court detailing application processing and discharges.
  • Borrowers who become eligible in 2025 would be protected from a federal tax bill by treating eligibility as the discharge date, with the IRS and Treasury retaining final tax authority.
  • The plan includes reimbursements for payments made after borrowers hit their qualifying threshold and requires processing of IDR and PSLF buyback applications.
  • Roughly 2 to 2.5 million borrowers could be affected, even as ICR and PAYE are slated for phase-out by July 1, 2028 under the administration’s legislative plan.