Millions of Americans will soon be able to apply for up to $20,000 in student loan debt relief. The Biden administration is revealing new information about how many people are expected to be eligible.
Borrowers will be eligible for $10,000 in student loan forgiveness if they have an annual income of less than $125,000, or $250,000 for married couples, according to the Biden administration's plan. If borrowers received a federal Pell grant and meet income qualifications, they will also be eligible for an additional $10,000 in student debt cancellation.
Connecticut student loan borrowers owe a combined $17.5 billion and the average student loan debt for Connecticut residents is "notably higher" than the national average, according to researchers at the Education Data Initiative.
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Nationwide, more than 40 million borrowers are expected to be eligible for student loan forgiveness and nearly half of those people could see their entire remaining balance discharged, the Biden administration said.
In Connecticut, approximately 454,200 borrowers will be eligible for loan forgiveness. A little more than half of them will also be eligible for an additional $10,000 in student debt cancellation, being Pell grant recipients.
The White House recently shared a state-by-state breakdown of how many people are expected to qualify to have the debt forgiven nationwide. Here's where each state in New England stands:
| State | Estimated Number of Borrowers Eligible for Student Debt Relief (rounded to the nearest hundred) | Estimated Number of Pell Borrowers Eligible for Student Debt Relief (rounded to the nearest hundred) |
| Mass. | 813,000 | 401,200 |
| Conn. | 454,200 | 238,200 |
| N.H. | 175,100 | 85,300 |
| Maine | 175,000 | 105,300 |
| R.I. | 133,900 | 75,300 |
| Vt. | 72,200 | 37,100 |
Many people across the U.S. are feeling relieved that their student loan debt could soon go down a considerable amount. In Connecticut specifically, the average borrower owes over $35,000 in student loans.
Details on how borrowers can apply to have debt forgiven have yet to be announced. The application is expected to be released in several weeks at studentaid.gov/debtrelief.
For more information on student debt forgiveness, click here. If you'd like to be the first to know, you can sign up for email updates from the U.S. Department of Education.
