Do This by April 30 If You Want Loan Forgiveness This Year
Borrowers should consolidate their federal student loans by the end of April to qualify for loan forgiveness.
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The Biden administration has already forgiven over $45 billion in student loans for nearly one million borrowers through a one-time account adjustment to income-driven repayment (IDR) plans. If you've been faithfully repaying your student loans for at least ten years, you could be next in line for this substantial relief—but you'll need to act fast.
What is the student loan forgiveness deadline?
The Education Department has set April 30, 2024 as the cutoff to consolidate certain types of federal loans and enroll in an IDR plan in order to maximize the benefits of this one-time account adjustment. Borrowers who miss this deadline may still receive some credit for past payments, but will not get the full forgiveness that's possible by meeting the April 30 consolidation requirement.
Specifically, borrowers with commercially-held FFEL, Perkins, or HEAL loans, as well as those with a mix of loan types, will need to consolidate into a new Direct Consolidation Loan by the deadline. This ensures their repayment history on the oldest underlying loans is fully counted toward forgiveness.
The IDR account adjustment only applies to loans consolidated into a Direct Consolidation Loan. These types of loans require immediate consolidation to qualify for this upcoming IDR account adjustment:
Commercially held FFELP loans
Commercially held Perkins loans
HEAL loans
Parent PLUS loans in repayment for less than 25 years (or less than 10 years, if eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness)
Direct loans with different past payment counts
If your loans aren’t on this list, you probably don’t need to take action right now. If your loans are on the list above, read on to learn what steps you should take ASAP.
How to get loan forgiveness this year
To access the application, go to StudentAid.gov/loan-consolidation. The online form should automatically populate most borrowers’ contact and loan information. Just be sure to confirm which loan types you have, select the ones you want to consolidate, choose an IDR plan, and provide some basic personal information. Depending on your situation, you may need to provide additional documentation, such as proof of economic hardship or disability. Be sure to respond promptly to any requests from your loan servicer.
The entire process should take less than 30 minutes, according to the Federal Student Aid Office. For assistance or to apply for consolidation over the phone, contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 800-433-3243.
Generally, you can’t consolidate an existing consolidation loan unless you’re applying to PSLF or adding another loan to the mix, like a Perkins loan that you didn’t previously consolidate.
The bottom line
Borrowers who miss the April 30 deadline won't be completely out of luck, as they may still receive partial credit for their past IDR payments. But to maximize the forgiveness you're eligible for, it's crucial to get your loans consolidated by the end of this month. Don't delay—take action now to put yourself in the best position to get significant student debt relief this year.
Meredith Dietz
Senior Finance Writer
Meredith Dietz is Lifehacker’s Senior Finance Writer. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English and Communications from Northeastern University, where she graduated as valedictorian of her college. She grew up waitressing in her family restaurant in Wilmington, DE and worked at Hasbro Games, where she wrote rules for new games. Previously, she worked in the non-profit space as a Leadership Resident with the Harpswell Foundation in Phnom Penh, Cambodia; later, she was a travel coordinator for a study abroad program that traced the rise of fascist propaganda across Western Europe.
Since then, Meredith has been driven to make personal finance accessible and address taboos of talking openly about money, including debt, investing, and saving for retirement. Outside of finance writing, Meredith is a marathon runner and stand-up comedian who has been a regular contributor to The Onion and Reductress. Meredith lives in Brooklyn, NY.
