Millions of Americans will soon be able to apply for up to $20,000 in student loan debt relief, and the Biden administration is revealing new information about how many people are expected to be eligible.
Borrowers will be eligible for $10,000 in student loan forgiveness if they have an annual income of less than $125,000, or $250,000 for married couples, according to the Biden administration's plan. If borrowers received a federal Pell grant and meet income qualifications, they will also eligible for an additional $10,000 in student debt cancellation.
The White House on Tuesday shared a state-by-state breakdown of how many people are expected to qualify to have the debt forgiven nationwide. Here's where each state in New England stands:
| State | Estimated Number of Borrowers Eligible for Student Debt Relief (rounded to the nearest hundred) | Estimated Number of Pell Borrowers Eligible for Student Debt Relief (rounded to the nearest hundred) |
| Mass. | 813,000 | 401,200 |
| Conn. | 454,200 | 238,200 |
| N.H. | 175,100 | 85,300 |
| Maine | 175,000 | 105,300 |
| R.I. | 133,900 | 75,300 |
| Vt. | 72,200 | 37,100 |
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All in all, about 1,823,000 people in New England are expected to be eligible for at least some student loan debt forgiveness. Education officials estimate the plan will erase federal student loan debt for about 20 million Americans.
Details on how borrowers can apply to have debt forgiven have yet to be announced. The application is expected to be released in several weeks at studentaid.gov/debtrelief, according to Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.
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Massachusetts residents on their own owe nearly $31 billion dollars in federal student loan debt, according to the Education Data Initiative. Nationally, the average amount of student loan debt for borrowers is $36,667, while Massachusetts residents owe slightly less, on average: $34,146.
