Suspense, as thousands of American students watch on with bated breath, as the Biden Administration launched a new student relief plan known as “Saving on a Valuable Education” (SAVE). The administration describes this plan as the most affordable option for reducing debt, namely their interest payments. 

It is an income driven plan as it basedis your payment plan on your income and family size. Another key fact is that borrowers who have only undergraduate loans, will see their payments capped at 5% of their discretionary income, while those with graduate loans as well have to pay between 5% and 10%, a weighted average based on their original principal balances.

This plan eliminates all remaining monthly interest on subsidized and unsubsidized loans after the scheduled payment has been made.This means that if you make your monthly payment, your loan balance won’t grow due to unpaid interest that accrued since your last payment. As an example,  if your interest was 50 $, but you paid 20$ in your scheduled payment, then the remaining balance of 30$ will not  be carried over to the next payment. 

Despite millions of Americans registering for this program, it will undoubtedly face legal trouble from both the republicans and the conservative dominated supreme court. This was  the case for the administration’s last student debt relief plan, that aimed to cancel almost half a trillion dollars in student debt, which saw a contentious legal fight in the supreme court, where it was struck  down, after ruling it as unconstitutional in nature. Detractors claim this plan’s purpose is only to grab the headlines and gain favorable reception from the American voters, rather than anything substantial in nature. 

This is part of the current administration’s strategy of using a collection of smaller individual plans to chip away at the student debt, which involves going after predatory for-profit universities, carrying over unprocessed claims from the Trump administration and generally recounting past errors. 

Nevertheless if this plan survives the legal gauntlet, then millions of students will be eager to register for this plan, and the administration will no doubt seek to use this as a hail mary for any future student debt relief effort. 

To register for this plan, go to the website, at studentaid.gov/announcements-events/save-plan