Despite legal challenge, Biden’s Education Department tests student loan forgiveness application

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The Biden administration’s plan to forgive over $500 billion in student loan debt is beginning to roll out through a website test, which website will allow borrowers to apply for student loan debt cancelation. This “beta test,” which refers to the initial testing phase of the website, is the first step towards forgiving student loan debt.

ABC News reported that the website went live on October 14 and the testing period will last for around a month until the administration works out potential bugs and issues with the website.

The Department of Education, which is administering the rollout of the website, said that borrowers applying for relief will not have to reapply if they submit their application during the testing period.

According to Biden’s plan, up to $20,000 of debt cancellation will be directed to Pell Grant recipients while other borrowers of federal loans qualify for up to $10,000 of debt cancellation. But the plan benefits the wealthy because the student loan debt cancelation will cover individuals making less than $125,000 in the 2020 or 2021 tax year or less than $250,000 as a couple.

The federal government-instituted hold (or pause) on student loan payments will end on January 1, 2023 and the Biden White House encouraged borrowers to apply before mid-November to try to get their debt canceled. The last day for applying to have student loan debt canceled is December 31, 2023.

However, the Biden administration is facing at least one legal challenge to its plan.

The Pacific Legal Foundation, a conservative non-profit that specializes in litigation against onerous government regulations, filed a challenge to Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan. In its press release, the foundation called the move to cancel over $500 billion in debt as “flagrantly illegal.” It added that the Biden plan was enacted “without statutory authority or even the basic notice and comment procedure for new regulations.”

The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana and the case’s name is Garrison v. U.S. Department of Education. The foundation asked the court to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent the student loan cancellation from being implemented by the Biden administration.