Education Department reopens applications for student loan repayment plans

The U.S. Education Department reopened online applications Wednesday for income-driven repayment plans for student loan borrowers.

The applications had been taken down in response to a February court ruling, which blocked the Biden administration’s Saving on a Valuable Education Plan and parts of other income-driven repayment plans. The materials’ removal had complicated the renewal process for borrowers already enrolled in repayment plans.

The American Federation of Teachers had filed a lawsuit seeking to force the department to accept and process applications for repayment plans.

Delays in processing applications held up relief for borrowers including those enrolled in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, said Persis Yu, deputy executive director for the Student Borrower Protection Center, which represented the plaintiffs.

“Every day these applications go unprocessed deprives borrowers of critical time toward PSLF relief and financial stability,” Yu said.

The Trump administration needed to revise the income-driven repayment plan application in order to comply with the February ruling, said James Bergeron, acting under secretary at the Education Department. While the online application was down, officials said there were no disruptions to the paper application process.

Income-driven repayment plans take a borrower’s finances and family size into account when calculating monthly payments, but borrowers must periodically demonstrate they still qualify. When forms were unavailable, some borrowers were unable to complete that process.

Advocates for borrowers encouraged them to be prepared for delays in processing as the department begins accepting applications again.

“Looking at the application today, it does appear that everything is back online,” said Sabrina Calazans, executive director of Student Debt Crisis Center. “Borrowers should still apply for the plan that works for them.”

She said borrowers should continue to plan for how to tackle their student debt, despite the Trump administration’s dismantling of the Education Department. Not paying back loans or meeting payments can result in delinquency and defaults.

“We have heard a lot of people say that if the department is going away, so do their loans. That is not true,” Calazans said.

AFT President Randi Weingarten said in a joint statement with the Student Borrower Protection Center that the government “took a step because of our lawsuit to restore some borrowers’ rights” but that many borrowers are still being met with “red tape, backlogs and dead ends.”

The Education Department’s Federal Student Aid office has been hit hard by layoffs, with more than 300 FSA jobs eliminated. The Trump administration has said the cuts won’t affect students and families.

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