- A Politico report found the Education Department is prepared to carry out student-loan forgiveness.
- Within months of Biden's announcement, they are reportedly prepared to forgive millions of borrowers' debts.
- Borrowers without income verification readily available would be able to apply through an online form.
The Education Department is ready to cancel student debt once President Joe Biden gives the word, according to Politico.
On Thursday, Politico released a report detailing internal memos within the Education Department on its plans to carry out broad student-loan forgiveness. Biden is considering canceling $10,000 in student debt for borrowers making under $150,000 a year, and according to the report, the department is prepared to provide that relief automatically within several months after Biden makes that announcement for borrowers of which the department already has income information for.
For the borrowers without income information readily available, they would apply through a form on StudentAid.gov to self-certify their income and qualifications for relief, per the report. Borrowers with graduate and parent PLUS loans, along with federal loans privately-held, would also qualify.
Politico noted that these plans have not yet been approved by the White House, but senior aides briefed Education Secretary Miguel Cardona of the ideas to implement broad-based relief earlier this week.
"The Department's review of broad based debt cancellation remains ongoing and no decisions have been made," an Education Department spokesperson told Politico. "We are not going to comment on any alleged internal documents or internal deliberations about hypothetical scenarios."
A White House spokesperson previously told Insider Biden is still planning to announce any relief before student-loan payments are set to resume after August 31, and according to the report, the department aims to have the application form ready for borrowers to use within days of Biden's final announcement.
None of these plans are finalized, but it shows the department has been planning broad relief — answering questions from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers who wanted confirmation the department is prepared to carry out relief effectively once the White House makes its final decision. Still, some advocates and Democratic lawmakers have pushed back on the idea of applying for relief and subjecting it to income caps, noting the administrative hurdles and paperwork errors that could arise from the process.
For now, borrowers continue to await a final announcement of relief — along with an update on whether the student-loan payment pause will be extended, which the department recently signaled may happen once again for the fifth time under Biden.