Student borrowers have been waiting for months to find out whether or not their debts would be canceled by President Joe Biden, who promised relief when he ran for president.
So when he finally announced today that borrowers could get up to $20,000 in help, people rushed to check their loan balances. But many have had great difficulty connecting.
The websites of loan servicing companies and a government agency crashed on Wednesday. Nelnet and Great Lakes’ student loan service was down for at least a few hours as borrowers rushed for more information about Biden’s relief package. Federal student aid website also experienced “high visitor volume” and temporarily decreased, according to an error message.
Nelnet and Great Lakes did not return immediately The wealth request for comment.
President Biden posted a Twitter announcement Wednesday saying loan relief is coming — including up to $20,000 for those with Pell Grants and $10,000 for all other federal borrowers — he doesn’t. did not immediately detail all the ins and outs of the program, leaving borrowers with more questions than
“This is the first time I want to connect to Nelnet. And I can’t. Irony,” twitter user Wes Crosby wrote.
In addition to announcing the forgiveness plan, Biden also extended the pause on student loan repayments, which began in 2020 during the pandemic, until the end of this year, writing that he was delaying it “one last time”.
Although Biden’s loan forgiveness plan wipes out student debt for nearly half of all borrowers, there are still important caveats and not everyone qualifies. Borrowers who earn more than $125,000 are not eligible for debt forgiveness, and this does not apply to other types of loans a student may have taken out to pay for their education that were not technically student loans.
Sign up for the Makeshift Features mailing list so you don’t miss our biggest features, exclusive interviews and surveys.
