CFA joined 103 organizations in urging Secretary Cardona to call on the Department of Education to implement an Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) Waiver. This waiver will have a huge impact on millions of borrowers.

When Congress passed the first of the modern income-driven repayment (IDR) plans in 1992, it made a promise to borrowers that federal student loan payments would be affordable, and that even if borrowers were low-income, through eventual cancellation, their student loans would not be a lifetime burden. IDR has failed to deliver on every aspect of that promise. The groups urged the Biden Administration to restore faith in IDR through the creation of an IDR waiver.

The Biden Administration recently recognized and took steps to address similar failings in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program by implementing a waiver that would allow the millions of public service workers to finally benefit from the promise of PSLF. While the groups applauded and celebrated these efforts, they urged the Administration to simultaneously address the parallel failures of the IDR program through a similar waiver.