Hundreds of thousands of Florida borrowers stand to benefit from Biden’s loan forgiveness plan

ORLANDO, Fla. — Nearly 800,000 student loan borrowers in Florida could have at least part of their debt eliminated under President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan.

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Statistics show that for many borrowers in Central Florida, the president’s plan could wipe out their student loan debt entirely.

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According to economists at Student Loan Hero, the average student loan debt nationally is approximately $35,000.

“We’re potentially talking about tens of thousands of people who could have their student loan debt wiped away, or a really really significant portion gone,” Jacob Channel of Student Loan hero said.

According to their data, student loan borrowers in Orange County alone have an average balance of $36,366 and an average payment of $294 per month.

In neighboring Central Florida counties, the average balance ranges from just over $30,000 to more than $37,000.

“About a third of borrowers, give or take, tend to have about $10,000 or less in student loan debt,” Channel said. “In that regard, a lot of people would have their entire debt wiped out.

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However, Channel cautions that there’s still a lot that’s not known about the president’s plan.

“We still don’t know exactly what it will look like. We don’t know if there may be some exceptions in some instances for the income, nor do we know what exactly the form people will have to fill out will look like,” Channel said.

The most likely scenario, Channel says, will be a process that is more or less automated, particularly for borrowers who already have their financial records on file with the federal government.

“People who file their taxes…the government already knows what your income is,” Channel said. “They can just forgive the money from your account.”

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Channel says more information on the process should be released in the coming weeks and months, likely before December 31 because that’s when the student loan payment clause restarts.

The student loan forgiveness plan is only for federal loans and does not apply to private loans.

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