IMPORTANT UPDATE: The Department of Education (ED) has extended the deadline, giving borrowers until April 30, 2024, to take any necessary steps to qualify.

Student loan forgiveness deadline has been extended

Student loan forgiveness has been in the news a lot and the most recent topic has focused on the IDR Account Adjustment Program.  The IDR Account Adjustment was set to expire on 12.31.2023 but the Department of Education (ED) has recently extended the deadline to April 30, 2024.

For certain borrowers, their loans do not qualify for the adjustment benefit.   However, borrowers can convert their loans into qualifying loans if they take action before April 20, 2024.   Failing to do so would result in exclusion from the benefit, causing them to miss out on additional credit towards forgiveness.

The program, as all Department of Education benefits, can be confusing to borrowers so we’ve created a guide to the steps needed to take advantage of this extended opportunity.

First:   What is a payment count adjustment? This one-time initiative by the Department of Education aims to address historical failures in administering student loans. It provides credit toward income-driven repayment (IDR) forgiveness and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) for any time in repayment status, certain periods of forbearance and deferment, and time in repayment prior to consolidation on consolidated loans. The low down: previous payments made by the borrower that were not considered in the original payment count may now be potentially counted.

Second: The adjustment is currently being administered by the U.S. Department of Education (ED), which will continue to identify eligible borrowers regularly.   Certain borrowers and their loans will qualify for this benefit without taking any additional steps.  Most borrowers do need to convert their loans into qualifying loans to take advantage of this benefit.  The low down: If you’re not sure which category you fall into help Is available.

Third: The Department of Education estimates that borrowers will receive at least three years of additional credit towards loan forgiveness, with many seeing their loans forgiven entirely. Since this summer, the Department of Education has approved almost $44 billion in debt relief for more than 900,000 borrowers.

Fourth: Why do borrowers need to enroll by this deadline? The payment count adjustment will ONLY apply to the accounts of borrowers with federally managed loans held by the Department of Education. Borrowers with loans NOT currently held by the Department, such as those with commercially held FFEL or Perkins loans, can only receive the benefit of the adjustment by converting their loans into qualifying loans by April 30, 2024.

Fifth: Converting your loans into qualifying loans can take 2-3 billing cycles.  The Department of Education is encouraging borrowers to start the process no later than April 30, 2024. 

Here’s a few borrowers that have already received loan forgiveness through the IDR Waiver Program:

• 42,962 forgiven:  All FFEL Loans. She didn’t even know Indian Casinos are Qualifying Employers. This was the first one we submitted from Tribal Governments for PSLF
• $41,286 forgiven:   FFEL loans, she tried to enroll herself unsuccessfully for years.  We were able to help her get her loans totally forgiven.
• $142,411 forgiven:  Had all FFEL Loans. She was worried because she missed the PSLF Waiver, but we advised that IDR Account Adjustment would forgive her loans. And they did, in full.
• $131,080 forgiven:  Was paying $1,113 a month with Navient FFEL loans. We converted her loans, enrolled her, got her full loan forgiveness through IDR Account Adjustment.
• $297,200 forgiven:  He had He had 21 FFEL loans and qualified for PSLF via his employment the whole time. Loan forgiven via IDR Account Adjustment.
• $91,.282 forgiven:  She had been with FedLoan since the early 2000’s, qualified for the program via employment, but never actually enrolled into it. Her payments were unaffordable and had barely ever made a payment. The Waiver along with the account adjustment gave her the time she needed.

This is a game-changing program and once the deadline passes the benefit is offer. Don’t procrastinate! If you’re not sure where to turn, we’re here to help.  Reach out to Silver Lion Student Loan Advisors and let us help guide you to loan forgiveness.