Student loan forgiveness application form unveiled – but White House still not ready to launch

In the face of multiple legal challenges, the White House on Tuesday released a preview of the application form for the president's one-time student debt relief cancellation.

The application, which will be accessible on cell phones as well as computers, will be published in both English and Spanish and designed for people with disabilities. It will require entering a Social Security number.

The application also will require the borrower to sign and agree to a form about what they earn. Anyone who is found to have provided false information would be subject to significant fines and perhaps jail time, according to White House officials.

Officials described the application as "simple and straight forward," keeps questions to a minimum and was designed after being tested.

When the form will go live is still up in the air, however.

"We don’t have an announcement to make on the launch date," a White House official said on a call with reporters.

Biden senior administration officials, who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity, said it's "full steam ahead" with the student loan cancellation plan even amid legal challenges from Republican-led states. Officials did not provide a release date – or a website where borrowers can access the application – but said the White House is on track for an October launch after initially targeting "early October." They also shared a video about the application.

Applicants will not be required to log in with their federal student aid ID, nor will they have to upload any documents.

When news first broke about the White House's debt forgiveness plan, its website focused on federal financial aid buckled under the weight of borrower interest. Officials said they're using "best practices and lessons learned" to make sure the site can handle the volume of applications.

Borrowers are eligible to receive $10,000 or $20,000 in debt relief depending on their income and whether they received a Pell Grant in college. The Education Department has said borrowers who apply in October could have a chunk of their debt wiped out as soon as November. The feds have encouraged borrowers to file their forms by Nov. 15 if they want the debt cancellation applied to their balances before the end of a freeze on payments that began during the pandemic and ends in January. Borrowers will have through the end of 2023 to apply for the student debt relief.

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Who is suing over student loan forgiveness?

About 43 million people hold $1.6 trillion in federal student loans, and about 40 million are expected to qualify for the one-time debt cancellation. But the loan program, or at least the publicly available details about it, has evolved as the application window approached and legal challenges mounted. These changes mean fewer applicants can take advantage of the relief.