400,000 Not Getting The Relief They Deserve

     From Forbes:

Student loan borrower advocacy organizations filed a formal petition today, calling on the Biden administration to grant automatic forgiveness to hundreds of thousands of disabled student loan borrowers who may not even realize that they qualify for a discharge. ...

To be granted a TPD [Total and Permanent Disability] Discharge, however, disabled student loan borrowers must submit a formal application, which can be a cumbersome process, particularly for borrowers who suffer from severe physical and psychological impairments. The Department of Education has authority to automatically grant a TPD Discharge to disabled student loan borrowers who are receiving Social Security Disability benefits, if they have a disability review period of at least five to seven years. The Social Security Administration has identified approximately 400,000 disabled student loan borrowers who would qualify for relief, and the agency has shared that information with the Department of Education. But, the Department has not acted to cancel the student debt balances of these borrowers. Many borrowers do not even realize that they qualify, and most have not submitted applications. ...

The petition calls on the Department to use the information it already has regarding the disabled status of these 400,000 borrowers to automatically forgive their student loan debt. In 2019, the Department was able to implement widespread automatic TPD discharges for borrowers identified by the Veteran’s Administration as totally and permanently disabled due to a service-connected disability. Advocates argue that the Department should enact a similar automated discharge system for borrowers determined to be disabled by the Social Security Administration, as well. ...