Apply now for Federal Student Loan Debt Relief

Note: This letter originally appeared as an e-mail sent to the Hopkins community on October 27, 2022.

Dear Johns Hopkins Community,

This past August, the U.S. Department of Education announced a plan to help federal student loan borrowers when the moratorium on student loan repayment ends on Jan. 1. The Federal Student Loan Debt Relief program includes loan forgiveness of up to $20,000 to Federal Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 to non–Pell Grant recipients.

Borrowers (including current students) with federally held undergraduate, graduate, and Parent PLUS loans can now apply for relief by completing the Federal Student Loan Debt Relief application. Individuals with these types of loans that were distributed on or before June 30, 2022, are eligible for the relief if they are individual tax filers who made less than $125,000 in 2021 or 2020, or married tax filers who made less than $250,000 in 2021 or 2020.

Please note if you filed federal taxes, your income requirements are based on your adjusted gross income (AGI), which can be found on your IRS tax return. For dependent students, eligibility is based on parent income.

Filling out the application is easy and takes about five minutes.

To apply, here’s what you should do:

• Visit the Federal Student Loan Debt Relief application page no later than Dec. 31, 2023. *If you are unable to open the link, paste the link in your browser: https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief/application
• Review the Eligibility for Debt Relief section.
• Complete all required fields in the Borrower Information section.
• Review and submit the application.

Please note the following:

• Federal loan repayment is set to resume on Jan. 1, 2023, for borrowers who are no longer enrolled at least half-time.
• We recommend filling out the application before Nov. 15, 2022, so that reduced loan amounts are factored in before repayment resumes on Jan. 1, 2023.
• Once you apply, the U.S. Department of Education will review your application, determine your eligibility for debt relief, and work with the loan servicer to process your relief. The loan servicer will notify you when your application has been processed.
• On Friday, Oct. 22, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily blocked the student debt relief plan. Although this order prevents the Department of Education from providing relief at this time, the department is still encouraging borrowers to apply.

The Johns Hopkins financial aid team is available to answer any questions you and your family may have regarding the Federal Student Loan Debt Relief plan. You can reach Hopkins’ financial aid online or call 1-877-419-5131 (phones are open Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET, and 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday.

For additional details on student loan debt relief, including how debt relief will be applied to your loans, please visit the Federal Student Loan Debt Relief webpage.

Sincerely,

Tom McDermott
Associate Vice Provost for Financial Aid