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Resources

We know that figuring out how to erase your student debt can be confusing. So, we’ve collected a set of resources that can help you navigate your options and get help if you’re stuck.

General Student Debt Relief Resources

  • The U.S. Department of Education’s office of Federal Student Aid provides a list of information about all available federal student debt relief programs: See Here.
     

  • The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has a portal that borrowers can use to submit complaints about student loan payments: See Here.
     

  • Several states across the county have a Student Loan Ombudsperson or Student Loan Advocates. These state officials are committed to providing information to student loan borrowers: See Here.

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  • The National Consumer Law Center has a Student Loan Toolkit to help borrowers walk through the basics of their student loans. See Here.

$10K/$20K Cancellation Resources

As you may already know, on June 30, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with right-wing interests and formally blocked President Biden's historic plan to cancel up to $20,000 for student loan borrowers in the wake of the COVID-19 emergency., ripping away critical relief from 40 million borrowers and their families. In response, the President announced plans to create a new program under the Higher Education Act. However, student loan payments are still set to resume on September 1, 2023 (after a more-than-three-year pause).

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Check back here for updates on the new program, or sign up for updates from the Department of Education at ED.gov/subscriptions.

For more info, you can also check out our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and answers about President Biden’s cancellation program here:

We also regularly run free online webinars to walk you through different paths to student debt cancellation and answer other questions about the student loan system. Watch a recording or register for one below:

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Resources

The PSLF program was designed to cancel the federal student loans of public service workers after 10 years of service and making loan payments—but for decades, the program was inaccessible for most. To fix this, the Biden administration released a temporary waiver of program requirements that allowed millions of public service workers to access the benefits. The PSLF Waiver expired on October 31, 2022—but President Biden extended most of the benefits and protections, set to take effect in July 2023. Learn more about PSLF here:

For information about how many public service workers are likely eligible for PSLF in your state, and how many have had their loans cancelled, check out our map of PSLF in the states.

Borrower PSLF Resources

Check out our PSLF FAQs to help answer common questions:

The actions borrowers need to take to access the PSLF program vary depending on circumstances. Our PSLF Step-By-Step Guide will help you determine what YOU need to do: 

Also check out our archive of PSLF webinar recordings for information about eligibility:

Employer PSLF Resources

The Department of Education (ED) has an Employer Toolkit, which includes an overview of PSLF and the waiver, sample letters to employees, sample social media posts, and employee/borrower-facing material:

We also have materials available for employers of public service organizations that walks you through how to easily guide employees towards student loan cancellation for FREE through PSLF. See our PSLF Employer Toolkit:

Additionally, the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau published an Employer’s Guide to Assisting Employees with PSLF:

Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) Resources

Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) is a federal student loan relief program that allows borrowers to pay a certain percentage of their discretionary income, as calculated according to a Department of Education (Department) formula, towards federal student loans. There are many kinds of IDR plans, each with different rules, including Income-Based Repayment (IBR), Income Contingent Repayment (ICR) Plans, Revised Pay as you Earn (REPAYE), and Pay as You Earn (PAYE). Under these plans, borrowers are entitled to cancellation after 20 or 25 years of qualifying payments, depending on the plan. Plan eligibility is based on loan type and date.

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In April 2022, the Department announced that it would conduct a one-time revision of all borrowers’ student loan accounts. For many borrowers, this audit will be automatic and will give borrowers more credit toward cancellation under IDR plans, regardless of whether or not they have been enrolled in IDR plans.


Start out by reading our backgrounder on the IDR Account Adjustment Background:

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Read and download our IDR Account Adjustment Explainer for a synopsis of the program:

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