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The Finance Base
Biden administration

Biden Withdrew Two Proposed Student Loan Relief Plans in 2024: What 30 Million Means

The two initiatives withdrawn in December 2024 were proposals, not active forgiveness plans. The “30 million” figure was projected reach, not a count of borrowers who lost or received relief under them.

By TheFinanceBase Team 3 min read
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Biden’s Education Department withdrew two proposed student-loan relief initiatives on December 20, 2024. They were not operating forgiveness plans, so the withdrawal did not take relief away from 30 million borrowers. That figure described projected reach—not people who had received forgiveness under the proposals.

What happened to the two proposals?

The Department of Education withdrew two proposed debt-relief initiatives on December 20, 2024, as the Biden administration prepared to leave office. Neither proposal had become a final, implemented forgiveness program. One was still tied up in litigation; the other was not expected to be finalized before the administration ended. The withdrawal therefore stopped proposed relief from advancing, rather than reversing forgiveness already granted under those initiatives. Axios reported the withdrawal and the department’s stated reason: with limited time left, it was prioritizing court-ordered settlements and helping borrowers through the return to repayment.

What did “30 million” refer to?

It was not a count of people who received forgiveness through the withdrawn proposals. Axios described the two initiatives’ projected combined reach as more than 30 million borrowers. In an April 8, 2024 speech, Biden also described a broader set of planned actions as continuing relief for more than 30 million Americans since he began his administration. His remarks framed several measures as proposals to come, not as benefits already delivered through the two initiatives later withdrawn. The official transcript lists the proposed relief categories.

Those categories included relief related to accrued interest, borrowers with long repayment histories, people eligible for existing programs who had not enrolled, borrowers whose schools had cheated them, and borrowers facing financial hardship. They describe the administration’s intended areas of action; they are not evidence that every eligible borrower received relief under the withdrawn proposals.

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Did 30 million borrowers lose forgiveness?

No—not because of this withdrawal. The proposals had not taken effect, so borrowers did not lose benefits already granted under them. The projected figure concerned potential reach. Other federal student-loan relief programs and court-ordered settlements are separate matters; the withdrawal should not be read as ending all federal loan forgiveness.

Is SAVE the same as the withdrawn proposals?

No. SAVE was an income-driven repayment plan, not one of these two proposed relief initiatives. Federal Student Aid says a federal court order ended SAVE and that the plan is no longer available. That is a separate legal development from the December 2024 withdrawal. Federal Student Aid’s IDR FAQ gives current borrower-facing guidance on the court order and repayment-plan options.

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What should borrowers do now?

If you were enrolled in SAVE or had a SAVE application pending, Federal Student Aid says you must choose another repayment plan and should watch for a message from your loan servicer stating your deadline. Don’t assume that a plan is available—or that you qualify—based only on its name: eligibility can depend on loan type and when the loans were first disbursed.

  1. Sign in to your account at StudentAid.gov and review your dashboard and loan details.
  2. Read messages from your servicer, including any notice that gives a deadline to select a new plan.
  3. Compare eligible plans using the federal repayment calculator. Consider eligibility, how the monthly payment is calculated, the repayment period before possible discharge, whether payments may count toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), and estimates of total payments and discharge.
  4. Submit an income-driven repayment application through the federal site if you decide to apply. Federal Student Aid says the application is free.

Federal Student Aid’s FAQ currently lists the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP), Income-Based Repayment (IBR), Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR), and Pay As You Earn (PAYE). Their eligibility rules and payment formulas differ; use the account information and calculator to assess your own situation. The FAQ says ICR and PAYE end no later than July 1, 2028, so borrowers considering either should check the latest federal guidance rather than assume it will remain available indefinitely.

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