Minnesotans had $14.5 million student loan debt forgiven through SAVE plan
US President Joe Biden speaks at the Culver City Julian Dixon Library in Culver City, California, US, on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. Bidens administration announced that more than 150,000 borrowers will receive $1.2 billion in student loan forgiveness (Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - More than 2,000 borrowers in Minnesota had millions forgiven in student loan debt through the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment plan.
The Biden administration announced in a press release Thursday that 153,000 borrowers across the country had $1.2 billion in student loan debt forgiven through the repayment plan. An estimated 2,060 people in Minnesota will have their student loan debt forgiven, worth $14.5 million.
An email was sent on Wednesday to some borrowers enrolled in the SAVE plan stating that they were approved for the loan forgiveness and "would not need to take any further action to receive relief."
According to the U.S. Department of Education, borrowers should see their loans forgiven in the next few weeks. The Department of Education says it will continue looking for borrowers enrolled in the SAVE plan who could be eligible for the forgiveness.
Who is eligible for the forgiveness?
To be eligible for the forgiveness, borrowers need to be enrolled in the SAVE plan and have been making payments on their loans for at least 10 years. They also need to have originally taken out $12,000 or less.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, for every $1,000 borrowed above $12,000, you can get forgiveness after an additional year of payment. Everyone on the SAVE plan will get forgiveness after 20 or 25 years, depending on if you have loans for graduate school.
The forgiveness is based on the original balance borrowed as a student to attend school, not what is currently owed or the amount of an individual loan.
What is the SAVE plan?
The SAVE plan is an affordable loan repayment plan that can offer payments as low as $0 a month. The SAVE plan protects borrowers from "runaway" interest and balances larger than were originally taken out, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
The U.S. Department of Education plans to implement the full benefits of the plan by July 2024.
To learn more and enroll in the SAVE plan, click here.
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