ST. CLAIR SHORES, Mich. (WXYZ) — The application for student loan debt relief went live online Friday evening with a beta version, and according to President Joe Biden, more than 8 million people applied over the weekend.
The program would forgive up to $20,000 for pell grant recipients and up to $10,000 for federal loan recipients.
Individuals who made less than $125,000 in 2021 or 2020, along with families that made less than $250,000 in 2021 or 2020 are eligible.
In roughly 30 seconds using only her cell phone, Judie Laverdiere of St. Clair Shores finally finished something that’s been hanging over her head for nearly 20 years.
"Since 2004, I’ve been paying," Laverdiere said of her student loans. "It wasn't that much of a loan, but it just never ends.”
Laverdiere says she went back to school in 2004 for nursing at Wayne State University. Since then, she’s added on more loan payments to help pay for her daughter's tuition too. Soon, most of those remaining debts will be forgiven.
“About $450 a month between the two,” Laverdiere said she will now save.
Laverdiere is one of 43 million Americans who recently became eligible for student loan debt forgiveness and one of 8 million Americans who have already submitted their online application in the first weekend it went live.
"It was super easy and it’s cool that they made it that accessible for people,” said 25-year-old Arber Velencia of St. Clair Shores. “I was prepared to have my W-2s and my IRS stuff handy."
Velencia is another applicant. It’s only been a few years since he graduated with an economics degree from Wayne State University, but his time making payments is also coming to an end.
"It would forgive all of my debt," Velencia said of the relief. "Which when I say it now, it’s pretty huge.”
On Monday President Joe Biden briefed the nation on the new application website. It’s still in a beta testing phase before fully launching.
“As millions of people fill out the application, we’re going to make sure the systems continues to work as smoothly as possible, so we can deliver student loan relief for millions of Americans as quickly and efficiently as possible,” Biden said.
Those who fill the application out now won’t have to fill it out again and can expect to have their application processed by the end of the year, giving a fresh start in 2023 to millions like Laverdiere.
“Especially for me, we’re single income," Laverdiere said. "It’s really going to make a difference not having to have those student loan payments hanging over our heads.”
Those looking to apply can visit studentaid.gov/debt-relief/application.
