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You can now apply for Biden's student loan relief plan. Here's how

President Joe Biden and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona announce the student debt relief application is now live.
Susan Walsh
/
AP
President Joe Biden and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona announce the student debt relief application is now live.

Updated October 17, 2022 at 4:22 PM ET

On Monday, President Biden announced the application for his student loan relief program is officially live.

The administration published a beta version of the application last week. Since its launch on Friday, more than 8 million borrowers have already applied for debt relief, with no reported glitches or crashes according to the White House.

"It's easy. It's fast," Biden said in a press conference announcing the launch, noting applications take less than 5 minutes and can be done on desktop or phone.

"This is a game changer for millions of Americans to get moving."

Biden's plan is to cancel up to $10,000 in debt for those earning less than $125,000 per year and up to $20,000 for those who received Pell Grants.

The application asks for borrowers' name, date of birth and social security number, among other things. The form is available in both English and Spanish on desktop and mobile sites. It will be open through Dec. 31, 2023.

Borrowers will not need what's known as an FSA ID to log into the application, nor will they need to upload any documents, including tax records. Instead of having to provide documents that verify that you, as an individual, earned less than $125,000 in 2020 or 2021 or, as a couple, less than $250,000, the application simply asks borrowers to check a box to "certify under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that all of the information provided on this form is true and correct."

The administration estimates more than 40 million people will be eligible for the relief program.

Cory Turner and Deepa Shivaram contributed to this report. contributed to this story

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Sequoia Carrillo is an assistant editor for NPR's Education Team. Along with writing, producing, and reporting for the team, she manages the Student Podcast Challenge.
Elissa Nadworny reports on all things college for NPR, following big stories like unprecedented enrollment declines, college affordability, the student debt crisis and workforce training. During the 2020-2021 academic year, she traveled to dozens of campuses to document what it was like to reopen during the coronavirus pandemic. Her work has won several awards including a 2020 Gracie Award for a story about student parents in college, a 2018 James Beard Award for a story about the Chinese-American population in the Mississippi Delta and a 2017 Edward R. Murrow Award for excellence in innovation.