Biden's student loan forgiveness plans can move forward, rules rule

A federal judge in Georgia declined to block President Joe Biden's second attempt at broader debt relief, transferring the case to a federal court in Missouri. The move could give more than 20 million Americans a chance to pay off their student loan debt.

Brad Smith sits down with Betsy Mayotte, President and Founder of the Institute of Student Loan Advisors, about Wealth! to discuss what the news means for borrowers.

“I'm certainly more cautiously optimistic than before. We must remember that the judge simply transferred the matter to another court. So the fight is not over yet, but it is possible that some borrowers will see relief sooner rather than later,” Mayotte tells Yahoo Finance.

She says, “Because of what's happened in the last few years with these Republican states and this kind of debt relief, I suspect they'll probably try to file another lawsuit.” The question is whether they can demonstrate that they are eligible, and if they can't, can this debt relief move forward, and perhaps they will be able to move it forward in the meantime.”

“It is important to clarify what impact this relief will have on most borrowers. Not all of their loans will be forgiven. Most borrowers who would benefit from this would be those who owe more now than they did when they started repaying. And with that debt relief you would be sort of putting them back where they started, (instead of) forgiving them the whole thing. There are some borrowers who have been paying for decades and would receive full relief, but most people who would receive this benefit would simply see them put back where they started, which is still a great thing. “

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This post was written by Naomi Buchanan.