EIU Office of Financial Aid

2022 Biden-Harris Student Debt Relief Plan

What we know:

1. President Biden has announced loan cancellation at $10,000 for single borrowers making less than $125,000, or households earning less than $250,000. The relief includes current students and borrowers who have federally-held undergraduate, graduate, and Parent PLUS loans where the first disbursement was on or before June 30, 2022.   Borrowers who fall under the income caps and who received Pell Grants in college will receive an extra $10,000 — totaling $20,000 in forgiveness.
2. You may login to studentaid.gov to view your loan and grant history to determine if you may qualify.
3. If you completed a 2021-2022 FAFSA, the relief may be applied automatically. If you did not complete a 2021-2022 FAFSA, you can apply for cancellation through Federal Student Aid's website here. The deadline to apply will be December 31, 2023.
4. The Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) released a webpage explaining the announcement with answers to frequently asked questions: studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement.
   • The announcement has generated significant interest in the StudentAid.gov website. They are ensuring that everyone who visits StudentAid.gov can access the site. To manage the high volumes of visitors and prevent login errors, we have activated a Waiting Room for StudentAid.gov.
   • The Waiting Room is a “Please Wait” screen that may appear when a visitor reaches StudentAid.gov. The screen explains that the visitor will be able to proceed to the site momentarily. Based on site traffic, the average wait time on this screen has been one to two minutes. We monitor and adjust the wait time, based on the number of visitors to the site, to keep the wait as short as possible and to limit login errors. After a brief wait, visitors can access StudentAid.gov.
5. Please note: The EIU Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships is not authorized to process any of the cancellations or reimbursements of this federal program. While we are happy to help, the best place to find current information is the above websites for additional information. 

BEWARE OF SCAMS

• BE CERTAIN YOU ARE DEALING WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.
• DO NOT DISCLOSE IDENTIFYING INFORMATION UNLESS YOU HAVE INITIATED THE CORRESPONDENCE.
• GOVERNMENT WEBSITE URLs ARE ALWAYS ".gov"