Biden's Education Department is taking the next step to get broad student-loan forgiveness to millions of borrowers. Here's what you need to know.

An activist stands next to a sign as they protest in front of the Supreme Court during a rally for student debt cancellation in Washington, DC, on February 28, 2023.

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

• The Education Department announced it's moving forward with the broad student-debt relief process.
• The next step includes negotiations with stakeholders on the relief.
• The department is focusing on five groups of borrowers as it crafts the new plan.

President Joe Biden's Education Department just took the next step on its second attempt to get broad student-debt relief to millions of borrowers.

On Friday, the Education Department released a paper outlining what it is considering as it develops its new plan for broad student-loan forgiveness. At the end of June, the Supreme Court struck down Biden's first plan to cancel student debt using the HEROES Act of 2003, which allows the education secretary to waive or modify student-loan balances in connection with a national emergency.

The Supreme Court ruled the HEROES Act was the improper law to carry out relief as a result of the pandemic, so the department announced it would be trying again using the Higher Education Act of 1965, which does not require the existence of a national emergency.

The Higher Education Act requires the administration go through the negotiated rulemaking process, which includes a series of negotiation sessions and periods of public comment. The department's Friday announcement released the names of the negotiators, along with topics the negotiations will focus on in the upcoming sessions.

"The Biden-Harris Administration has taken unprecedented action to fix the broken student loan system and deliver record amounts of student debt relief," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement. "Now, we are diligently moving through the regulatory process to advance debt relief for even more borrowers. Today, after considering more than 26,000 public comments on how to tailor this relief, we are releasing this additional information about this effort."

Here's what you need to know about the process, and what the negotiations will look like.

Who are the negotiators?

The Education Department released a list of 26 selected negotiators to participate in the upcoming sessions, the first of which will be held on October 10 and 11.

In July, the department began the process of seeking nominations for people to serve on the negotiating committee. They were nominated by the public and selected by the department. The nominee categories include civil rights organizations, legal assistance organizations, state attorneys general, representatives of federal servicers, and student-loan borrowers.

The department said it is still seeking nominations for two constituency groups: state officials, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions.

What will be discussed at negotiations?

The Education Department released a paper negotiators will begin discussing during the October sessions. The Higher Education Act states the education secretary can "enforce, pay, compromise, waive, or release any right, title, claim, lien, or demand" related to student debt, and the negotiators will discuss the scope of that authority.

The paper also said the department is "considering adding regulations on the circumstances under which the Department may waive all or part of federal student loan debts," suggesting it is looking at expanding the scope of the education secretary's authority.

The department highlighted five key groups of borrowers it wants negotiators to discuss when considering the new plan for broad debt relief:

1. Borrowers who have seen their balances grow due to accrual of unpaid interest, leaving them with balances higher than what they originally borrowers

2. Borrowers who are eligible for forgiveness under programs like income-driven repayment but did not apply for those programs

3. Borrowers who took on debt for a school that did not prepare them to earn enough money post-grad

4. Borrowers who entered repayment before some certain benefits became available

5. Borrowers who are experiencing financial hardship and don't benefit from relief programs

Can I participate if I'm not a negotiator?

Yes. Negotiations will be livestreamed, and the department will publish a link to view the sessions closer to the date. Members of the public will have the opportunity to submit comments at the end of each day, and once a draft of the rule is published next year, there will be another period for public comment at that time.

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