One hallmark of the Biden administration has been an ongoing effort to wipe out billions in student loan debt for millions of borrowers, but with President-elect Donald Trump taking office come January, the future of student loan debt forgiveness is uncertain.
President Biden and Education Department officials have spent his term working to cancel ballooning debt and cut down payments through a series of steps and proposed rule changes.
The effort comes as Americans have amassed $1.74 trillion in student loan debt with more than 92 percent of it being federal student loan debt.
Some critics including many Republican officials have decried the push as unfair to taxpayers who did not take out expensive loans or receive fancy college degrees.
Bidens first and largest proposal to canceled up to $20,000 in debt per borrower was blocked by the Supreme Court last year.
But he has still managed to chip away at the debt canceling more than $175 billion for some five million borrowers while reducing the size of payments for millions more.
The Biden administration has canceled more than $175 billion in student loan debt during his first term despite legal roadblocks. However, several proposals to further cancel debt are held up in the legal system, and it is unlikely there will be final court decisions before Trump takes office
At the same time, the administration shifted to alternative pathways to cancel the debt including going through the more lengthy regulatory process, though those efforts have already faced legal roadblocks.
While the push under the Biden administration continues to move forward, several are in limbo with Trump heading to Washington next year.
I think it is very likely to be even more uncertainty and anxiety for borrowers, said Aissa Canchola-Bañez, policy director of the Student Borrowers Protection Center, of the road ahead.
Administration efforts to fight lawsuits over student loan forgiveness would likely come to a halt under Trump while some borrowers could even see payments spike under the next administration.
But some of the loan forgiveness depends on when and how the courts respond.
Here is where plans currently stand:
SAVE Plan
Bidens Saving on Valuable Education (SAVE) plan was launched earlier this year after the administration went through the rule-making process to establish the program in an effort to avoid similar hurdles to the proposal struck down by the Supreme Court.
But it too was challenged by Republican state attorneys general and has been temporarily blocked by the courts.
The plan would have lowered monthly payments for borrowers relative to other income-driven repayment plans, stopped interest from building up and allowed some borrowers to see their debts erased after ten years rather than the standard 20 to 25 years.
According to on estimate, the plan could cost upwards of roughly $475 billion over ten years.
The eight million borrowers currently enrolled in the plan are in forbearance with interest and payments frozen for now while the plan is on hold.
According to student loan expert Mark Kantrowitz, the incoming Trump administration could simply decide to drop the case, but the courts also still need to weigh in.
If the SAVE plan does not move forward, it would mean many borrowers could face higher costs when payments resume.
Plan B
Another Biden attempt to cancel student loan debt, known as Plan B, is also held up in court after Republican state attorneys general sued.
Two-thirds of all borrowers would qualify for the more targeted approach to canceling debt after the original effort was blocked by the Supreme Court.
But the rules have not even been finished yet. It remains to be seen when there could be a final ruling.
Protesters after the Supreme Court blocked President Bidens first plan to cancel billions in student loan debt on June 30, 2023
The plan unveiled earlier this year would eliminate accrued interest for more than 20 million borrowers who owe more money on their student loans than they originally took out.
It also cut down the length of time borrowers would have to repay their loans before seeing forgiveness with some borrowers seeing their debt wiped out after being in repayment for at least 20 years, and it offered cancellation for those experiencing financial hardship.
The Education Department estimated the plan would cost just under $150 billion.
Economic hardship forgiveness
A third Biden administration proposal would provide relief for borrowers facing economic hardship. That effort is still in the rule-making process as well with the administration releasing the proposed rules just last month.
While it has not yet been challenged in court, Kantrowitz said a lawsuit is likely as soon as it is finalized.
The proposed rules are currently open for public comment which ends on December 2. The administration said it expected to finalize the regulation next year, but if enacted as it currently stands, the rules would authorize debt relief for nearly eight million borrowers.
Its not 100% clear what would happen, Kantrowitz said of the three unfinished Biden attempts at forgiveness facing legal holdups.
If the Trump administration were to stop defending the cases, it seems likely that there will be a permanent injunction blocking the three provisions, he continued.
That is the easiest way for the Trump administration to block these forgivenesses.
Ending current programs
There are other questions about where the Department of Education and future of student loan borrowing is headed under the Trump administration.
While Trump tried to distance himself from the conservative Project 2025 agenda on the campaign trail, it calls for dismantling the Education Department similarly to how the president-elect has called for shuttering it.
The more than 900-page document, which could serve as a roadmap, does not center on higher education, but it does call for the end of income-based repayment plans and ending federal student loan forgiveness for public service workers.
Ending the program would cut off relief to some 3.6 million public service workers and saddle them with some $250 billion in debt over the next decade that is slated to be forgiven, according to the Student Borrower Protection Center.
At the same time, the agenda calls for privatizing student loan borrowing programs.
But dismantling the Education Department or eliminating current student loan programs created by Congress like PSLF would take acts of Congress to accomplish.
President-elect Donald Trump on November 19. He has called for shutting the Department of Education. Such an move would take an act of Congress, but advocates warn he could have a major impact even without eliminating it
That does not mean the Trump administration wont have a significant impact.
Under the Trump administration and Secretary [Betsy] DeVos, the Department of Education was actively working to push PSLF even further out of reach for public service workers, said Canchola-Bañez.
Folks could see the next Trump administration try to make it even harder for nurses and educators and first responders to be able to benefit from PSLF, she said.
It is not clear Republicans will attempt to pursue such expansive actions as eliminating loan programs or will even have the votes to do so despite their trifecta come January.
Trump named his former Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon as his pick for Education Secretary in his second term
Trump named Linda McMahon his pick for Education Secretary on Tuesday.
But Canchola-Bañez noted shuttering the Education Department entirely is not her primary concern.
Donald Trump, whether he wants to or not, cannot shutter the doors of the Department of Education with a flick of his pen, but what we know they can do is they can look at budgetary, consolidate offices and purge the workforce, she said.
Student debt cancelations so far
The Biden administration has been able to cancel $175 billion in debt during his one term in office already despite roadblocks.
Debts wiped out include $74 billion for more than one million borrowers through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. At the start of the administration only 7,000 had seen debt forgiven through PSLF.
Another 1.4 million borrowers have seen $56.5 billion canceled through Income-Driven Repayment plans including in part due to administrative changes.
Another 1.6 million borrowers have seen $28.7 billion wiped out after being cheated by schools while more than half a million borrowers saw $16.2 billion in debt canceled for permanent disability.
According to Kantrowitz, the incoming Trump administration will not be able to claw back debt that has already been forgiven under such programs.
Meanwhile, Canchola-Bañez urged borrowers to look into where their student loan status currently stands, so they can be prepared to address any changes coming down the pipeline.