Education Department Extends Student Loan Relief Talks

Fourth negotiation session scheduled to discuss inclusion of borrowers with financial hardship in debt cancellation plan.

The Education Department has agreed to extend its student loan relief talks, scheduling a fourth negotiation session on February 22 and 23 to discuss including borrowers with financial hardship in its second attempt at student-debt cancellation.
The decision to extend the talks comes after mounting pressure from Democratic lawmakers, advocates, and some of the negotiators on the committee to help craft the new relief plan.
The department's previous proposal for relief, concluded in December, included five categories of borrowers to be prioritized for relief but did not include a category for borrowers with financial hardship.
Since June 2023, the department has been working on a new route for relief under the Higher Education Act of 1965, following the Supreme Court's rejection of President Joe Biden's first attempt at broad relief.
After the final round of negotiations, the department will finalize its proposal and post it to the Federal Register to allow a 30-day public comment period. The plan would not go into effect until 2025, but the education secretary can opt for early implementation.