Education Department to Host Additional Negotiated Rulemaking Session for Debt Relief

The Biden-Harris Administration has announced it will hold additional negotiated rulemaking sessions Feb. 22 and Feb. 23, regarding relief for borrowers experiencing hardship.

Under Secretary James KvaalSessions will be virtual, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET. There will be one hour of public comment, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., the first day. The sessions — stemming from the administration’s announcement last summer that it would pursue a new regulatory process to deliver student debt relief — will focus on such issues as regulatory text provided at least a week in advance for review by the negotiators and the public.

“The Biden-Harris Administration will never stop working to deliver student debt relief for borrowers,” said Under Secretary James Kvaal. “We look forward to discussing another avenue for borrower relief related to hardship at our next negotiation session.”

The administration has approved more than $136.6 billion in targeted relief for over 3.7 million Americans through various actions.

The U.S. Department of Education is separately continuing its work on draft rules covering the other issues discussed at the third session, for publication later this year. This includes relief for borrowers whose balances exceed what they originally borrowed, who first entered repayment long ago, who are eligible for relief but have not applied for it, or who attended programs or institutions that failed to provide sufficient financial value. Those issues will not be discussed at the forthcoming session because the ED has already sought consensus on that regulatory text.

Updates on the student debt relief negotiated rulemaking process, a transcript, and an archived video of the sessions will be posted on ED's 2023-2024 negotiated rulemaking for higher education page. The public can view the sessions or provide public testimony through a link on that page.