Biden’s Backup for Student Loan Relief Likely to Take a Year

Inside Higher Ed

Katherine Knott

July 19, 2023

Nearly a year after President Biden first pledged to forgive up to $20,000 in student loans per borrower and less than a month after the Supreme Court struck down that plan, the Education Department is again trying to provide relief.

But this second attempt will take longer—at least 12 months—several experts said, and involves a complicated regulatory process known as negotiated rule making. And any end result could still be subject to a legal challenge.

“I worry about dangling this potential relief in front of borrowers again, so recently after it’s been taken away from them without a really clear path forward,” said Michelle Dimino, deputy director of education at Third Way, a center-left think tank.

At this point, what kind of debt relief the Biden administration will pursue or what plan will even emerge from the negotiations is unclear. What is clear is that the process will be lengthy, technical and fraught with emotion.

Higher education experts say this rule making focused on debt cancellation will be more high profile than previous processes and unlike any other round of rule making. The department already has received more than 12,700 public comments on this issue, dwarfing the 60 it received on its entire regulatory agenda for 2023. That attention will likely help to educate the public about a typically under-the-radar area of the department, but it won’t make the sessions any less technical.

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