56-year-old man just got $170,000 in student loan forgiveness
Daniel Gray and his husband Douglas and their dogs.
Courtesy: Daniel Gray
On October 23, the day after Daniel Gray’s 56th birthday, he received an email that made him feel like a dream: The U.S. Department of Education would forgive his student loan balance of more than $170,000.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Gray said. “For the first time since I was 18, I’m debt-free.”
But the relief shouldn’t have been so surprising.
Gray began paying off his student loan debt in the 1990s and qualified for loan cancellation under an income-driven repayment plan. IDR plans result in the loan being erased after a certain period of time, usually 20 years or 25 years. But like many borrowers, Gray was concerned about reports that aid had become harder to access under the Trump administration.
“It wasn’t clear if they would be pardoned for what happened,” Gray said.
Higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz said lately many student loan borrowers have been wondering whether they’ll get the loan cancellation they’re entitled to.
“When borrowers worry about whether the Trump administration will renege on student loan forgiveness that the federal government has promised, it puts them under extreme financial and emotional stress,” Kantrowitz said. he said.
The U.S. Department of Education did not respond to a request for comment.
Loan amnesty becomes uncertain under Trump administration
Earlier this year, the Department of Education stopped forgiving debts for borrowers in two long-standing student loan repayment schemes, the Income Contingent Repayment scheme, or ICR, and the Pay As You Earn scheme, or PAYE. It also temporarily paused debt forgiveness under the Income-Based Repayment plan, or IBR.
More than 12 million student loan borrowers are enrolled in one of the Department of Education’s IDR plans, according to Kantrowitz.
But October saw a major victory for borrowers: the Trump administration. we agreed Continuing to pay off people’s debts under ICR and PAYE as a result of a lawsuit filed by the American Federation of Teachers. In the same month, the debts of debtors registered in IBR began to be canceled again.
The AFT alleged that Trump officials prevented borrowers from taking advantage of the rights mandated in the loan terms.
“We can’t say for sure, but it’s possible that the AFT case could lead to discharge,” Weena Sanchez, a student loan counselor at the Education Loan Consumer Assistance Program, a nonprofit organization in New York, said of Gray’s student loan forgiveness. EDCAP worked with Gray on his request for assistance. According to the loan forgiveness statement, Gray was eligible for loan cancellation through May 2024.
“We have heard from other customers that they have received similar reports,” Sanchez said.
But due to unprecedented changes at the Department of Education, student loan borrowers continue to have their debts excused.
The Trump administration announced this week that it would transfer most Education Department programs to other agencies; Experts say the move is part of President Donald Trump’s directive to disband the agency. Education Department officials are also exploring options to sell some of the $1.6 trillion federal student portfolio to the Politico private market. reported In October.
A lifelong vow of poverty should not be part of the bargain.
Mark Kantrowitz
higher education specialist
No matter what changes lie ahead, it’s important for borrowers to remember that the original terms of their student loans are stated in their agreements. Master NoteKantrowitz said he can’t change mid-repayment. Once borrowers sign this agreement, any programs that exist at the time, including repayment plans that result in loan forgiveness, are required by law to remain available to them.
Because student loans, like other types of debt, cannot be discharged in regular bankruptcy proceedings, borrowers are “dependent on there being a light at the end of the tunnel” with government forgiveness, Kantrowitz said.
“When a low-income student is forced to borrow money to pay for college, a lifelong vow of poverty should not be part of the bargain,” he said.
Student loan forgiveness ‘the only way out’
Gray says student loan debt has weighed on him for nearly 30 years. He graduated from the University of California at Santa Barbara with a degree in film studies in the mid-1990s and began working in technical jobs in video and television production.
But in later years, he says, he struggled with substance abuse problems and clinical depression. Her career took a hit as a result, and Gray said she struggled to meet her monthly student loan payment. He originally borrowed roughly $30,000, but his balance steadily increased due to interest charges.
“This system is designed for students to graduate, get good jobs and start paying,” Gray said. “What about those of us who can’t get our lives together until we’re 37 or 38?”
By then, he said, his debt was approaching six figures. When his debt was canceled by the government in October, his balance had ballooned to more than $170,000.
“I couldn’t believe I had let it get to this point; I felt incredibly guilty and ashamed,” Gray said, but he also “felt like the whole situation was designed to take advantage of the debtor.”
In 2011, Gray received a job offer from a television studio in Brazil. Tired of the cost of living in the US and hoping for a big change, he moved to São Paulo. He has lived in Brazil ever since. There she met her husband, Douglas, who was a chef. The couple lives near the beach and takes their dogs for long walks every day.
The biggest change Gray has felt since her student debt was canceled is psychological: “I suddenly felt like I could relax,” she said.
“It’s easy for people to say: ‘Why don’t people pay them back? What’s the big deal?’ Gray talked about student loans.
But he continued: “It got to the point where it was out of control. It seemed impossible. Student loan forgiveness is the only way out for many people.”
