[co-authors: Leila Fleming and Kerry Mackenzie]

On the afternoon of Monday, October 17, President Biden announced via Twitter and press release that the Department of Education (DOE) has officially launched the application for its Student Debt Relief Plan. Borrowers can access the application in both English and Spanish at studentaid.gov/debtrelief/apply.

The Biden-Harris administration highlighted that the application takes only five minutes to complete, is available on desktop and mobile devices and does not require a Federal Student Aid ID (FSA ID) nor supporting documents. They also noted that a paper version of the application would be available soon.

Of the approximately 40 million Americans eligible for the program, the White House’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs (IGA) estimates that, as part of the website test over the weekend of October 15, over eight million borrowers have already applied for relief. Borrowers have until the end of 2023 to submit their application.

For more information, please visit the DOE’s Federal Student Aid (FSA) landing page at studentaid.gov.