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Biden has now canceled $3B in student loans, broad debt forgiveness still waits

Biden has now canceled $3B in student loans, broad debt forgiveness still waits

Biden has now canceled $3B in student loans, broad debt forgiveness still waits

The Biden administration is wiping out another tens of millions of dollars in student loan debt, affecting borrowers who were deceived by schools that are now out of business.

With this new debt forgiveness, the Department of Education has now canceled at least $3 billion in student loans since the beginning of the year. Borrowers have been given more room in their budgets to save, invest or get a grip on their other debts.

Meanwhile, millions of Americans continue to wait for word on whether President Joe Biden will provide widespread student loan forgiveness. Members of Congress who want him to kill $50,000 in federal loans per person aren’t letting it go.

Latest forgiveness covers students from 3 schools

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The fresh debt forgiveness is going to students who attended Westwood College, Marinello Schools of Beauty and the Court Reporting Institute, the Education Department announced on Friday. All three schools, which are now closed, made “widespread, substantial misrepresentations” to students, the department says.

Eligible borrowers will receive 100% loan discharges, totaling about $55.6 million.

“Today’s announcement continues the U.S. Department of Education’s commitment to standing up for students whose colleges took advantage of them,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona says in a statement.

The news comes less than a month after the administration canceled around $500 million in loans taken out by former students of the now-defunct ITT Technical Institute. Officials said the for-profit chain had “repeatedly lied” to the borrowers about their abilities to find jobs and transfer their credits.

Moves earlier in the year cleared more than $2.3 billion in student debt, including about $1 billion held by borrowers ripped off by other schools, and another $1.3 billion owed by Americans described as totally and permanently disabled.

Broad debt forgiveness still up in the air

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This year’s debt cancellations are — to be completely honest — just small change compared to the sweeping student loan forgiveness that’s been under discussion in Washington and is advocated by a number of influential lawmakers.

Democrats in Congress have been on a mission to convince President Biden to zero out up to $50,000 in federal student loan debt for every American saddled with unpaid college loans. They say the president should use his executive power to torpedo that debt.

He has said he’s willing to cancel $10,000 in student debt, but he has resisted calls for the bigger amount. Still, Biden has asked Secretary Cardona to look into the idea, and he told Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren last month that they’re welcome to keep pushing him on the issue.

Those fighting for more generous relief say it would give Americans a more meaningful break from crushing student debt that’s kept them from buying homes and cars, getting married and investing for the futures.

How to deal with your student debt right now

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If you’re not eligible for the government’s latest forgiveness plan and you need relief from overwhelming student loan debt, there are a few things you can do right now to make your life a little easier.

First, consider refinancing your student loans. Interest rates on student loan refinances from private lenders have hit record lows, so replacing your debt with a new private student loan could cut your monthly payments substantially.

If federal loan forgiveness ever happens, it would not extend to private refi loans.

If you’re a homeowner, you might want to refinance your mortgage. With 30-year rates averaging less than 3%, some 14.1 million mortgage holders could save an average of $287 a month by refinancing, according to mortgage technology and data provider Black Knight.

The best rates go to borrowers with the highest credit scores. If you haven’t seen your score in a while, it’s easy now to take a look at your credit score for free.

After you’ve slashed your debt charges, you might generate a little more income with some low-stakes investing in the stock market. One popular app helps you build a diversified portfolio by investing just “spare change” from your everyday purchases.

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