Borrowers with undergraduate loans more than 20 years old and people whose loan balances have grown due to interest are among those who would have federal student debt forgiven under rules proposed by the Department of Education.

The department released new details Monday on federal rules that could be finalized next year as part of an ongoing “negotiated rulemaking” process.

Under the proposed regulations, borrowersꦫ with balances greater than what they owed when they started paying back their loans would get $10,000 of debt forgiven. Borrowers who entered repayment 25 years ago would have their debts forgiven, and people with only undergraduate debt would ha🦂ve their debts forgiven if they’ve been paying for 20 years.

“Student loans are supposed to be a bridge to a better life, not a life sentence of endless debt,” Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement. “This rulemaking process is about standing up for borrowers who’ve been failed by the country’s broken student loan system and creating new regulations that will reduce the burden of student debt in this country.”

The negotiated rulemaking process was launched this summer after the Supreme Court struck do♌wn President Joe Biden’s fir✱st attempt at providing student loan forg♊iveness, a sweeping order that would have forgiven up to $20,000 per borrower for almost everyone with federal💃 student loans. 

Biden administration officials hope the proposed regulations, which are aimed at specific grou💧ps of borrowers, will better withstand the legal challenges they anticipate from opponents of l🃏oan forgiveness.

Many student loan borrowers on income-driven repayment plans have seen the amount they owe grow over time evenꦰ if they’re making regular payments. Unlike conventional repayment plans, those payments are based on the amount of money they make, which is often less than the interest that builds up each month for borrowers with lower incomes.

And although that puts them on track to have their loans forgiven after paying for 25 years regardless of what they owe, borrowers facing growing debts have reported feeling discouraged and hopeless. 

The proposed rules would also provide loan forgiveness for people who would qualify for it under existing forgiveness programs such as Income-Driven Repayment plans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness, but who haven’t applied for it. Additionally, borrowers who attended schools that subsequently closed, or which were cut off from federal student aid by the Department of Education would also have their loans forgiven.

Borrowers “experiencing financial hardship that the current loan system does not address” would also be targeted for forgiveness under the proposed rules, although the department has yet to propose exactly how to do this or how that group will be defined.

A committee of student loan borrowers, educators, and other participants in the student loan system will meet Dec. 11 and 12 to discuss the proposed regulations, which will be finalized sometime next year, the department said.

For much of his term as president, the Biden administration has made efforts to 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:overhaul𒀰 the federal s🌞tudent loan system. In addition to seeking broad student loan forgiveness, the administration has 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结💎果体彩网:created a new student loan repayment program with generous terms for borrowers, 🐲and forgiven $127 billion in student loan debt for borrowers in certain situations, including public servants and disabled bo🍒rrowers.