Privately Held Student Loans No Longer Qualify for Biden Debt Relief Plan

The Biden administration on Thursday reversed course on part of its student debt forgiveness plan and will no longer forgive privately held federal student loans, according to an update to a Department of Education fact sheet.

The change will apply to some borrowers with Federal Family Education Loans or Federal Perkins Loan Program loans, programs that Department of Education sunsetted in recent years. Some 10 million borrowers still hold a collective $248 billion in FFEL debt, even though the program stopped administering loans in 2010. An estimated 2 million people still hold about $6 billion from the Perkins loan program, which closed in 2017.

Previously, borrowers with these loans could apply to have them consolidated to qualify for up to $20,000 in loan forgiveness under the Biden administration plan.