The new student debt forgiveness plan will strike the debts of undergraduates and graduates in February, six months earlier than it anticipated.
Until now, the Education Department’s main loan relief effort has focused on borrowers with debt 20 years or older. Those in the previous Revised Pay As You Earn program automatically get the rolled into this new one.
To qualify for the shortened repayment period, borrowers need to first sign up for the new income-based repayment plan, Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE).
It targets community college students and borrowers who initially took out less than $12,000 from the federal government and have been making payments for at least 10 years.
In Arizona, nearly 150,000 people have already registered.
