A lower court judge dismissed the lawsuit on October 20, ruling that the states did not have the legal standing to bring the challenge. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett also rejected a separate challenge to Biden's student loan forgiveness program, declining to take up an appeal brought by a Wisconsin taxpayers group.
Many of the lawsuits claim that the Biden administration does not have the legal authority to broadly cancel student loan debt. But lawyers for the government argue that Congress gave the secretary of education the power to discharge debt in a 2003 law known as the HEROES Act. The administration also said Thursday that 16 million applications for loan forgiveness could be approved this week. But borrowers should not expect to see their debts canceled until the appeals court lifts the hold on the program.Borrowers can apply online here: https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief/application.
If the court allows the administration to grant student loan forgiveness, an estimated 8 million eligible borrowers may receive the debt cancellation automatically because the Department of Education already has their income information on file. Those borrowers may begin to see their debt canceled on November 15, at the earliest, if there is not a legal pause in place at that time.