The Education Department is preparing to release a beta version of the student debt relief application as soon as Friday evening, testing out the viability of the platform ahead of the full rollout, according to three federal officials with knowledge of the plan.
The link was not yet available on the department’s website.
The portal will be open for a short window but will reopen again at a later date, according to the officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly. The test will allow the agency to collect data on the functionality of the site, an official said.
Neither the White House nor the Education Department immediately responded to requests for comment.
The Biden administration had originally hoped to make the forgiveness application available in early October. But the release has been delayed as the forgiveness plan faces multiple legal challenges.
Earlier this week, the Biden administration gave an early look at the application form for the president’s plan to forgive up to $20,000 in federal loan debt for eligible borrowers. It had previously said that the application would be short and that borrowers would not be required to provide documents or a federal student identification number.
The application will require borrowers to give their Social Security numbers and attest that they earned less than the income caps set for relief. The forgiveness is limited to borrowers who earned less than $125,000 in 2020 or 2021, or less than $250,000 for married couples. Nearly 95 percent of borrowers with federal student loans meet the income requirement for the program and qualify for relief, according to the White House.
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