What’s your take on this?

https://thehill.com/homenews/education/5566117-trump-student-loan-forgiveness-deal-debt-relief/amp/


Advocates cheer as Trump admin agrees to student loan forgiveness deal

BY LEXI LONAS COCHRAN 10/21/25 06:05 PM ET


Advocates are ecstatic after the Trump administration agreed to a student loan forgiveness deal that will allow millions of borrowers to see relief, a rare happy break for a group that has found few defenders in the current White House.

The administration reached a deal with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) last week that resumes student debt relief, mostly for those who have been paying on their loans for the past 20 to 25 years.


The deal says the Education Department will continue to process relief for borrowers in Income-Contingent Repayment and Pay as You Earn plans, until the options are eliminated in 2028 under President Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill.”

It also allows those who earn student loan forgiveness through qualifying payments this year to avoid taxes on the debt relief even if the cancellation does not happen until 2026. Starting 2026, those who receive student debt relief will have to pay taxes on that money.

“This year, we took on the Trump administration when it refused to follow the law and denied borrowers the relief they were owed. Our agreement means that those borrowers stuck in limbo can either get immediate relief or finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. And, crucially, they won’t ever get taxed on that relief,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten.



“AFT will hold the federal government to its word, and we won’t stop fighting until college is affordable and taking out a student loan doesn’t trap millions of Americans in a ruinous and exploitative debt cycle,” she added.


The agreement came following a monthslong legal battle after the Trump administration paused student loan forgiveness under multiple income-driven repayment plans due to a separate fight in the courts.

“The Biden Administration’s illegal attempts at mass student loan forgiveness impacted all of the Department’s income-driven repayment programs, including Income-Based Repayment. The courts intervened to stop their illegal efforts but that also impacted Department systems and prevented us from processing lawful loan discharges,” an Education Department spokesperson said.


”Thanks to the Trump Administration’s efforts to separate out the illegal loan cancellation schemes, we are able to process legitimate loan cancellations once again for borrowers who have been making payments for the requisite number of years,” the spokesperson added.

The deal also benefits those on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, who will now have their applications processed for “buy backs,” meaning payments for months a borrower was in forbearance can count towards loan cancellation eligibility.

For those on the Biden administration’s SAVE plan, advocates are encouraging those who have made 20 years of payment to call their loan servicer and see if they can switch to an IDR plan to be eligible for student loan forgiveness.

“The court order, unfortunately, does not allow loan discharge for people enrolled in the SAVE plan,” said Sabrina Calazans, executive director of the Student Debt Crisis Center.

Advocates say it could take weeks to see the fruits of this deal due to the federal shutdown, with 95 percent of Education Department employees currently furloughed.

“We welcome student loan cancelation and debt relief for folks, especially those who have been in repayment and have done their due diligence and these repayment plans, and it’s, it’s long overdue for a lot of these families, especially in a time of financial and economic uncertainty and during a government shutdown,” Calazans said.


Winston Berkman-Breen, legal director for Protect Borrowers, the group that represented AFT and others in court on this case, said another advantage of this agreement is the updates the Education Department will have to provide the court on the status of loan relief.

“We’re really going to stay vigilant, and part of the agreement was to, once the government resumes, once the shutdown is over, file monthly status reports and updates with the court on the progress of their commitment. How many people are getting their loans canceled, How many people are in the queue to get their loans canceled, etc, and so we’ll be monitoring that over the next few months, and hopefully things go well, but if they don’t go well, we still have our case live in court and we’ll go back to the judge to get relief,” Berkman-Breen said.

“It’s a really important accomplishment last week, but really, what it does is it tees us up to make sure that there’s transparency and court oversight as the Department of Education and the Trump administration start to deliver on what they promised,” he added.

Categories: Administration, Education
Tags: student loans

Seems like every few years there's a new promise for student loan debt relief or forgiveness that never comes true.

Like a deadbeat dad talking about "I'mma come get you for your birthday." Got folks dressed up looking out the window at the street waiting for a call that will never come.

but I imagine it would feel like covid stimmy checks signed by Trump.

fuck him but still cashing that check.

They need to deliver for people in a real, material way. No more performative bullshit like kneeling in Kente cloth, etc.

Student loans. Business loans. Public option. Guaranteed leave. Codify voting rights, Roe, etc. Housing reform. Minimum wage. High speed trains. Whatever menu they can deliver on- could give a fuck about progressive vs moderate or whatever.

Just...improve people's daily/weekly/monthly lives.

No more relying only on calling the GOP Nazis and "Trump bad"...and no more infrastructure bills that mostly benefit contractors in the short term.

No more pearl clutching about norms and democracy because its clear no one gives a flying fuck. Trump literally just tore down half the white house lol lol lol. Americans are impatient, uninformed, and struggling. Accomplish shit that helps people in a way that they can feel.

Might have to piss off a couple donors, but its gotta be better than permanent minority status. Delivering for people in a real way establishes loyalty...a hellofa lot more loyalty than running the Country's largest HR/Hall Monitor department. Fuck norms. Fuck symbolic performative empty bullshit. Deliver for people in a real way.

so its whatever to me. I've claimed my student loans as reparations. they can garnish my pay, if needed. I truly do not care. i will keep applying for extensions, deferment etc etc until the cows return home.

d


"i do more for both our communities than you'll ever know." - Heinz
"But rest assured, in my luxurious house built on the backs of people darker than me, I am sipping fine scotch and scoffing at how stupid you are." - bshelly

>I've claimed my student loans as reparations.

the house

but I was like “Biden gonna look out for ya boy”

but inside I was like you.. they weren’t gonna get that shit because I been paying for decades and shit just been barely moving.

We were on vacay looking over the Grand Canyon while waiting for our reservation when I got the email.

she never got hers forgiven and she has been teaching for 20 years. She’s almost done but we are praying they retroactively forgive hers and kick us some cash.

And furthermore I work for the gov't, so I fully expect them to be forgiven in about 3 years.

I ain't paying sh!t.

And truly the song of my people … until I returned to school and now FAfsa refusing to give any aid cause my 30yr old loans aint in deferment.

Yeah that $60k just going to have to sit.

if possible

they have a ten year program of wiping the slate clean after so many years if services (this means county, state, etc).

And its retroactive.

🤞🏽🍀🧲