Over 643,000 student loan borrowers are waiting on repayment plans or forgiveness, court filing shows

Trump officials reported on Wednesday that 553,966 borrowers’ requests for an income-driven repayment plan were still pending as of the end of March. Another 89,720 borrowers are waiting on an answer to their Public Service Loan Forgiveness buyback application, the court filing showed.

Signed into law in 2007 by President George W. Bush, PSLF offers debt cancellation to nonprofit and government workers after a decade. The buyback option, introduced by the Biden administration, allows borrowers pursuing PSLF to retroactively pay for any months they missed due to forbearance or deferment, accelerating their timeline to forgiveness.

Experts expect the backlog of new repayment requests to worsen now that the U.S. Department of Education has set a deadline for millions of student loan borrowers to exit the Biden administration-era Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE, plan.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.