• usernamesAreTricky@lemmy.ml
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    2 days ago

    I don’t disagree that Biden certain was problematic when in congress on student loans, but it’s worth noting that the action he had planned to do was well beyond just one-time student loan forgiveness

    He’s lowered the bar for discharging student loans via bankruptcy via executive action. It shouldn’t have been nearly impossible before, but it’s now moved into the realm of at least sometimes possible now

    In the fall of 2022, the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice jointly released updated bankruptcy guidelines aimed at making the process for student loan borrowers less arduous

    Previously, it was difficult, if not impossible, for most people to part with their education debt in a normal bankruptcy proceeding.

    […]

    While the government used to fight discharge aggressively in almost every case, there is now a policy to agree when the borrower can show financial need and a history of good faith efforts to pay the loans said Latife Neu, a bankruptcy lawyer in Seattle.

    “I’ve helped several people take advantage of the expanded ability to discharge their student loans in bankruptcy,” Neu added.

    https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/12/biden-makes-it-easier-to-forgive-student-debt-in-bankruptcy.html

    He also tried to cap interest rates, and reduce the monthly payment requirements, increase federal student aid, etc.

    Cutting monthly payments in half for undergraduate loans. The Department of Education is proposing a new income-driven repayment plan that protects more low-income borrowers from making any payments and caps monthly payments for undergraduate loans at 5% of a borrower’s discretionary income—half of the rate that borrowers must pay now under most existing plans. This means that the average annual student loan payment will be lowered by more than $1,000 for both current and future borrowers.

    https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/08/24/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-student-loan-relief-for-borrowers-who-need-it-most/