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Federal officials say almost 300K Georgia student borrowers applied for the new SAVE program

According to the Department of Education, anyone who borrowed $12,000 or less in federal student loans and has been in repayment for at least 10 years will have their debts automatically erased in February. Borrowers must enroll in the Biden administration's new income-based repayment plan known as SAVE. It does not matter what repayment plan they were in before, DOE officials said, the debt will be erased as long as they were actively repaying their loans and are now enrolled in SAVE.
Student loan repayment The Biden administration announced Thursday that it will fast-track a change in student loan debt that erases the debts of thousands of federal student loan borrowers – undergraduate as well as graduate students who initially borrowed less than $21,000. (Kameleon007/Getty Images/iStockphoto)

GEORGIA — The numbers are in and the White House said close to seven million borrowers have enrolled in a new student loan repayment program.

According to federal officials, roughly 6.92 million borrowers entered the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan, a newer income-driven repayment plan offered as the administration of President Joe Biden works to provide student debt relief to students, former students and their families.

“Overall, the Department estimates that the SAVE Plan will make 85% of future community college borrowers debt free within 10 years,” the announcement said.

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The SAVE plan was launched in August 2023, replacing the previous Revised Pay As You Earn program. As of early January, the White House said more than double the number of REPAYE enrollees were using the SAVE plan.

The White House announcement said 700,000 borrowers switched plans from a different type of plan, with more than half of them having a $0 loan payment, currently.

“Overall, borrowers are repaying $374 billion in federal student loans on the plan, about 30% of all Direct Loans dollars in repayment, deferment, or forbearance,” officials said in a statement.

Borrowers who are making payments, rather than those with a current $0 monthly bill, are saving an estimated $117 a month, according to federal officials. However, those savings do not include interest on payments that borrowers can now avoid “after they satisfy their repayment obligation.”

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The Biden-Harris Administration said they’ve approved nearly $132 billion in targeted relief for more than 3.6 million borrowers.

State-by-state, 286,000 Georgians have applied for the SAVE plan, rather than using another type, according to the federal government.

“Beyond being the most affordable student loan repayment plan ever available, the Biden-Harris Administration designed the SAVE Plan to put community college students and other low-balance borrowers on a faster track to debt forgiveness than ever before,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said. “Our ability to deliver this relief to borrowers months ahead of schedule is a testament to the Biden Administration’s commitment to delivering relief to as many borrowers as possible, as quickly as possible.”

Cardona added that the plan is not only lowering monthly payments but also protecting borrowers “from runaway interest,” and giving them a faster timeline for debt forgiveness.

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