As the Education Department ramps up efforts to push more student loan borrowers into repayment, officials reiterated this week that borrowers should not expect student loan forgiveness on a mass scale. The comments come as the department prepares to enact substantial changes to federal student aid programs starting next month.
“Borrowers should realize that they shouldn’t hold out for broad student loan forgiveness,” said Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent in an extended interview with The College Investor published on Wednesday. “It’s not going to happen.” Borrowers should instead “get back into lawful repayment” and utilize “new tools and options available” to them, said Kent.
The Under Secretary delivered his remarks three weeks before the department begins notifying millions of borrowers in the SAVE plan that they will need to apply to switch to a different income-driven repayment plan, or they will be automatically placed in the Standard plan. At the same time, the department is planning on launching a new income-driven option called the Repayment Assistance Plan, or RAP, while enacting significant changes to federal rules governing loan origination and student loan forgiveness.
But even as these changes take place, it is important for borrowers to understand that student loan forgiveness is not only possible, it’s happening right now for qualifying borrowers under eligible programs. And despite the Education Department’s rhetoric, borrowers are still getting their student loans discharged. Here’s a breakdown.
Broad Student Loan Forgiveness Is Indeed Dead, For Now
In his recent remarks, Under Secretary Kent was likely referring to mass student loan forgiveness of the kind that the Biden-Harris administration initially resisted, but ultimately came around to supporting. President Biden had proposed cancelling up to $20,000 in eligible federal student loans for borrowers who met certain income criteria. His administration subsequently took steps to implement a different program that would have allowed borrowers to cancel their student debt on the basis of financial hardship.
But these efforts were halted by federal courts. The Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in 2023 striking down President Biden’s $20,000 student loan forgiveness initiative, concluding that such relief was not authorized by Congress and had exceeded the Education Department’s rulemaking authority. The subsequent hardship-based debt cancellation initiative was halted by lower federal courts on similar grounds.
The Trump administation, meanwhile, has clearly indicated that there is no chance that these efforts will be revived for the time being. A future Congress could potentially pass legislation authorizing mass student loan forgiveness, but there would have to be sufficient majorities in both the House and the Senate to make that happen, as well as a more favorable presidential administration in the White House. It’s not impossible that mass student loan forgiveness could go forward at some point in the future, but Under Secretary Kent is correct that it’s not going to happen for the time being.
Student Loan Forgiveness Under IDR Plans And PSLF IS Functioning
But that doesn’t mean that no one is getting their student loans forgiven. On the contrary, the Education Department continues to process student loan forgiveness under a number of existing programs.
For example, borrowers are getting their loans forgiven under income-driven repayment plans, which authorize any remaining balance to be discharged after a borrower has been in repayment under those plans for 20 or 25 years (depending on the plan). More than 21,000 borrowers received student loan forgiveness under IBR, PAYE, and ICR during the month of March, said the department in a court filing in April.
“We resumed processing discharges for the IBR Plan in September 2025,” said the Education Department in online guidance on IDR plans in March. “We have updated our systems to resume processing discharges for borrowers enrolled in the PAYE and ICR Plans.”
The department is also processing discharges under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness, or PSLF, program. PSLF allows borrowers to eliminate their federal student loans in as little as 10 years after making consistent qualifying payments while working in eligible nonprofit or government employment. Even as the department pushes forward with new regulations that could limit relief under the program, borrowers continue to receive discharges under PSLF.
“Public service loan forgiveness is a real challenge,” said Under Secretary Kent at a Brookings Institution event on student loans in March. “That being said, it is a program that Congress passed, and it is a program that we are implementing with fidelity.”
The department has been approving around 10,000 discharges per month under the PSLF program, according to recent court filings on student loan forgiveness processing.
Student Loan Forgiveness Under Other Federal Programs
The Education Department also continues to discharge federal student loans under other programs, as well, although the picture is a bit more complicated.
The Total and Permanent Disability discharge program, which can wipe out the federal student loan debt for borrowers who are unable to engage in substantial, gainful employment due to a medical impairment, is still operating. However, the program has experienced some administrative issues during the last year after the department implemented long-planned changes to the TPD discharge processing system.
The department also continues to discharge federal student loans under the Borrower Defense to Repayment program, which offers student loan forgiveness to borrowers who can demonstrate that they were misled or defrauded by their school. The department is discharging federal student loans for borrowers covered by the Sweet v. McMahon settlement (an agreement the department entered into in 2022 to resolve claims of stalled or unlawfully denied Borrower Defense applications) even as it continues to fight to delay its obligations under the agreement. And with stricter Borrower Defense rules now in place after Congress passed legislation that effectively rescinded more favorable Biden-era regulations, it will be easier for the department to deny Borrower Defense relief to those not covered by Sweet v. McMahon going forward.
Student loan discharges are also happening for borrowers through bankruptcy. While it can be very difficult to discharge student loans in bankruptcy, the department is continuing to utilize a relatively new financial attestation process to help determine a borrower’s potential eligibility for a discharge. That new process can make it a bit easier for borrowers to pursue and receive a discharge through bankruptcy, and the program is seeing some early success.
Ultimately, even if it’s not always easier to get student loans forgiven, borrowers should recognize that discharges are nevertheless occurring. And while it is true that there is no mass student loan relief on the horizon, taking into account consistent and ongoing student loan forgiveness approvals under IDR and PSLF, borrowers should understand that there are still pathways to eliminating your student loans.
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