--- title: 'Student Loan Forgiveness Timeline: When Will You Actually Get Debt Relief?' description: What's the student loan forgiveness timeline? President Joe Biden just announced a plan to cancel loan debts for many borrowers. authors: - name: Mallika Mitra role: Contributing Editor url: https://money.com/author/mallika-mitra/ bio: Mallika Mitra is a contributing editor for Money, based in Chicago. She has covered investing and retirement for seven years and her work has appeared in CNBC, Bloomberg, Kiplinger, AARP, Barron’s, Bankrate, The Daily Upside, ETF.com, The Bond Buyer, PLANADVISER, PLANSPONSOR and Investopedia. education: Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY Kalamazoo College at_money_since: 2020 articles: 395 covers: - Personal Finance - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - CNBC - Bloomberg - Kiplinger - Barron's - Bankrate - WGN-TV - CBS News Radio - This Morning With Gordon Deal - Everyone's Talkin' Money social: - https://twitter.com/mitra_mallika - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallika-mitra-4577a386/ published: '2022-08-24T20:51:26.000Z' modified: '2024-01-10T14:24:25.000Z' section: Personal Finance tags: - News - Student Loans word_count: 601 canonical: https://money.com/student-loan-forgiveness-timeline-biden/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Students walking on a college campus](https://img.money.com/2022/08/News-2022-Student-Loan-Frogiveness-Schedule1.jpg?crop=0px%2C91px%2C3200px%2C1800px&quality=85) *The story has been updated to reflect new information shared Friday.* Now that student loan forgiveness is a reality, borrowers want to know: What's the timeline for their debts to be cancelled? Earlier this week, President Joe Biden announced a plan to [cancel $10,000 in student loan debt](https://money.com/student-loan-forgiveness-who-qualifies/) for borrowers whose annual income is less than $125,000 (or under $250,000 for married couples or heads of households). Pell Grant recipients will receive $20,000 in forgiveness, according to the administration. The plan also [extends the pause on student loan payments](https://money.com/student-loan-payment-pause-extended/) to Dec. 31, 2022. The move comes after months of back and forth in the White House — including the concern that forgiveness [would make inflation even worse](https://money.com/how-student-loan-forgiveness-affects-inflation/) — and speculation around whether Biden would fulfill his campaign promise to forgive some [student loan](https://money.com/student-loans/) debt. But just as [Biden's promise was murky](https://money.com/biden-student-loan-forgiveness-promise/), so is an understanding around when, exactly, borrowers can expect student loan forgiveness to actually happen. Here's what to expect about the timing of the Biden Administration's plan to relieve borrowers of some loan debt. ## Student loan forgiveness timeline Most borrowers will have to fill out an application to receive forgiveness. On Friday, administration officials said during a press briefing that an application should be available in early October. Once submitted, the process will take between 4 and 6 weeks, so the administration is recommending borrowers apply by Nov. 15 so that, in theory, their loans can be forgiven before payments resume next year. In press conference earlier in the week, Biden told reporters that the application would be a "short and simple form," while the Education Department has [said](https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USED/bulletins/32970c3) it will announce more details on how and when borrowers can apply "in the weeks ahead." If the department already has your income information from income-driven repayment plans on file, or if you recently filled out a FAFSA, you may be eligible to automatically receive relief. There are nearly 8 million borrowers in that camp, according to the news release. Since there's currently little official guidance published from the White House or the Education Department, the most important thing borrowers can do for now is check that your information — like your address and email address — is up to date with your loan servicer. (You can determine who exactly your student loan provider is via the Education Department's [website](https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/repayment/servicers).) You can also sign up to receive email updates on loan forgiveness [here](https://www.ed.gov/subscriptions). (Select 'Federal Student Loan Borrower' updates.) There will probably be months between the announcement and an actual change for borrowers, says Lanae Erickson, the senior vice president of social policy, education and politics at think tank Third Way. Plus, when borrowers have to actively apply to get something, it takes a long time, she told Money earlier this week. “It’s going to be a long road," Erickson says. ## Biden could face possible lawsuits There’s also the added complication that Biden’s plans could be challenged and struck down in court — something Erickson is [concerned about](https://www.thirdway.org/press/third-way-statement-on-loan-forgiveness-and-higher-ed-reform). Even if the plan isn't ultimately struck down, a lawsuit could delay forgiveness until after the pandemic-driven payment pause ends in December. Robert Kelchen, a professor and head of the department of educational leadership and policy studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, weighed in on the possibility on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/rkelchen/status/1562466329688387592). “Let the lawsuits begin over presidential authority,” Kelchen wrote. “I wouldn't count on forgiveness happening for a while, and it may go to the Supreme Court." ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/student-loan-forgiveness-timeline-biden/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Personal Finance", "item": "https://money.com/personal-finance/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Student Loan Debt", "item": "https://money.com/student-loan-debt/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Student Loan Forgiveness Timeline: When Will You Actually Get Debt Relief?" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/student-loan-forgiveness-timeline-biden/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/student-loan-forgiveness-timeline-biden/", "name": "Student Loan Forgiveness Timeline: When Will You Actually Get Debt Relief?", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2022-08-24T20:51:26.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/student-loan-forgiveness-timeline-biden/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/student-loan-forgiveness-timeline-biden/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-01-10T14:24:25.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Student Loan Forgiveness Timeline: When Will You Actually Get Debt Relief?", "articleSection": "Personal Finance", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2022/08/News-2022-Student-Loan-Frogiveness-Schedule1.jpg?crop=0px%2C91px%2C3200px%2C1800px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "News-2022-Student-Loan-Frogiveness-Schedule" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mallika Mitra", "url": "https://money.com/author/mallika-mitra/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/mallika-mitra/#author", "description": "Mallika Mitra is a contributing editor for Money, based in Chicago. 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