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- The Biden Administration is extending the consolidation deadline for borrowers with non-federal FFEL loans to June 30, 2024 to benefit from the adjustment.
- This extension gives borrowers an additional three months of quality guarantee
- The Department of Education has already approved $49.2 billion in IDR forgiveness for over 996,000 borrowers.
The Biden administration announced that it is extending the deadline for borrowers with older FFEL loans to consolidate to qualify for possible loan forgiveness.
Borrowers originally had until April 30, 2024 to consolidate their non-federal FFEL loans. However, the administration has extended this deadline to June 30, 2024.
The Ministry of Education expects that the adjustment in the number of payments will be fully implemented by September 2024.
The IDR adjustment, first implemented in April 2022, takes into account widespread evidence, including findings from the U.S. Government Accountability Office that borrowers were not accurately credited for time to loan forgiveness. Additionally, there was significant evidence that loan servicers were not properly following regulations, resulting in borrowers spending excessive amounts of time in forbearance.
Important dates for borrowers
The new consolidation deadline for borrowers with FFEL loans is June 30, 2024, so they can benefit from the payment count adjustment. Previously the deadline was April 30, 2024.
Full implementation of the payment number adjustment is now planned for September 2024. This extension provides borrowers with non-federal loans from the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program additional time to consolidate their loans into direct loans.
U.S. Undersecretary of Education James Kvaal emphasized the urgency for FFEL borrowers to consolidate their loans immediately, stating, “FFEL borrowers should consolidate as quickly as possible to preserve this benefit, which has already provided nearly one million borrowers with forgiveness granted.”
Adjustment of the number of payments
By adjusting the payment count, months are automatically credited in various statuses, including:
- Any repayment status, regardless of payment amount, loan type or repayment plan.
- Twelve or more consecutive months or 36 cumulative months of forbearance.
- Economic emergencies or military deferrals from 2013.
- Any deferral (other than in-school deferral) before 2013.
- Time to repay, defer, or forbear previous loans prior to consolidation.
Additionally, borrowers can receive a PSLF credit for each month covered by the payment number adjustment, provided they demonstrate qualifying employment for that month.
Next steps for borrowers
Borrowers who are unsure about the type of loan they have can log into StudentAid.gov and check the Loan Breakdown section of their dashboard. This section provides details on whether loans are Direct, FFEL or Perkins. For more information about eligibility and consolidation processes, borrowers can visit StudentAid.gov/idradjustment.
As the June 2024 consolidation deadline approaches, borrowers are encouraged to take the necessary actions to ensure they benefit from these significant changes aimed at providing precise payment credit and debt relief.
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