The department of Education under President Donald Trump’s adminstration has suspended the student loan forgiveness benefits for time being.
Students loan forgiveness under the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan will be paused temporarily as the department is updating its systems, according to reports.
Education Department Statement On Student Loan Forgiveness Program
The IBR plan is one of several income-driven repayment programs available to federal student loan borrowers. Unlike other plans currently under legal scrutiny, the IBR plan is the only income-driven repayment program which is not facing any court challenges at present.
In an updated guidance issued earlier this month addressing pending court challenges, the Department of Education stated, “currently, IBR forgiveness is paused while our systems are updated. IBR forgiveness will resume once those updates are completed.”
How the Income-Based Student Loan Forgiveness Plan Works
The IBR plan calculates monthly loan payments for students based on a borrower’s income and the size of family . This loan payment amount is reviewed and recalculated every 12 months to reflect the changes in the borrower’s financial situation over the time.
Borrowers who have not fully repaid their student loans by the end of their repayment term, get access to the loan forgiveness program.
At the conclusion of these terms, borrowers become eligible for loan forgiveness on any remaining balance.
What Student Loan Borrowers Should Know
Borrowers enrolled in the IBR plan should be aware that while forgiveness is currently paused due to system updates, it is expected to resume once these updates are complete. This temporary suspension is administrative and not a result of any legal barriers.
The Department of Education has not provided a specific timeline for when IBR forgiveness will restart, but borrowers who qualify remain eligible for forgiveness under the terms of their repayment agreement.
Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
