3 Things North Dakotans Need To Know About The Student Loan Forgiveness Program

By Fall of this year (2022) people could see their student loan debt forgiven, up to the amount of $20,000.

With the new Loan Forgiveness Plan, the Department of Education estimates that approximately 27 million people will qualify for up to $20,000 in relief.

So what do North Dakotans need to know? Here are a few things that might help you understand the process.

1. Who Qualifies?

People who are single, and have an income under $125,000 are said to qualify for the first tier -- $10,000 loan forgiveness.

If you're married and file taxes jointly, and/or are the head of the household, you would qualify if your income is under $250,000.

Keep in mind, this is your adjusted gross income, and the government will be making this determination based on your income in 2020 and 2021, not 2022.

2. Pell Grant

Now, in addition to the above requirements, if you also received a Pell Grant, you may get another $10,000 in forgiveness.

According to thewhitehouse.gov, no high-income individual or household will benefit from the program. The top 5 percent incomes will not see forgiveness.

3. How Does It Work??

This is the big question. Is there anything you need to do? How does the process work? Here's what we know: According to the U.S. Department of Education, if they already have your information on file, you should automatically get your loan forgiveness/relief.

If you're uncertain whether or not you the Dept. of Education has the correct or updated information, you can update it on the DOE website.

Other Things To Keep in Mind:

• According to thewhitehouse.gov, only Federal student loans qualify for forgiveness.
• Current students with loans out are eligible for loan forgiveness.
• If you are a "Dependent" student, your eligibility will be based on your parent(s) income, according to thewhitehouse.gov
• You also might want to know, that if you still owe money after the $10,000 student loan forgiveness, you will probably see your monthly payments go down. You could even see the remaining balance forgiven, if you have a record of 10-year on-time payments. This, as part of the forgiveness program.
• In addition to all of this, the pause on student-loan repayment has been extended to January of 2023. This is said to be the final extension.