Applications for Biden's student loan forgiveness plan are available: Here's what you need to know

 President Joe Biden's form to apply for one-time student loan loan forgiveness is now online. Borrowers can submit their application here.

The application's unveiling - after beta testing that attracted 8 million applicants on Friday - suggests the federal government is confident it can deliver on its huge debt cancellation promise amid several legal challenges, including in seven conservative states. 

"It landed and handled over 8 million applications without any errors or problems," President Joe Biden said Monday during an announcement event. The administration's plan is "fiscally responsible."

Borrowers are eligible to receive either $10,000 or $20,000 in debt relief, depending on their income and whether they received a Pell grant while in college. The education department said that part of the loans of borrowers who applied in October could end in November. The Fed urged borrowers to submit their forms by Nov. 15 if they want their balances reduced before the end of the moratorium on payments that began during the pandemic and ends in January.

To apply, borrowers must provide their Social Security number and date of birth on the government's online form. As part of this, they must self-certify that they earn less than $125,000 a year, or $250,000 for couples, and those who provide false information can face fines or jail time. Some borrowers may be required to provide proof of income.

The app is available in English and Spanish on a desktop computer or mobile phone. Those who have already applied after beta release need not apply again.

"I had a commitment that if I was elected president, I would do government work for the people," Biden said. This launch continues that commitment, just as I stand by my commitment to reducing student loans as borrowers recover from this economic crisis. Because of a once in a lifetime pandemic."

The first items came. Can apply for immediate loan forgiveness

About 43 million people have $1.6 trillion in federal student loans, and about 40 million are expected to qualify for one-time loan forgiveness. But the loan forgiveness program, or at least the publicly available details about it, has evolved as the application window approaches and legal challenges mount. These changes mean that fewer applicants can take advantage of this discount.

Considering that most of the 8 million people who have already applied are eligible for loan waiver, this means that around 20 per cent of the eligible pool has already signed up for the relief. The White House previously estimated that about 75 percent of eligible borrowers would apply for loan forgiveness. Borrowers have until the end of 2023 to apply.

One group, the Pacific Legal Foundation, sued to stop large-scale foreclosures on the grounds that borrowers who lived in certain states would be unfairly taxed. But within days of the lawsuit being filed, the White House said borrowers could opt out of the debt relief plan. A federal judge in Indiana denied the group's request to halt the pardon plan, saying the plaintiff could not be harmed if its debt was not forgiven.

Six conservative states - Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina - filed suit together, arguing that Biden overstepped his authority.

The states also said that quasi-state agencies that service older student loans in the Federal Family Education Loan Program will have money. These loans are backed by the federal government, but with commercial banks. As of September 29, the government allowed borrowers to consolidate these loans into a single loan owned by the federal government, meaning they would have a chance to be part of the loan cancellation.

The states argue that they will lose money as borrowers collectively give up their existing FFEL loans offered by the government. The same day the lawsuit was filed, the federal government stated that none of the remaining FFEL borrowers could consolidate their loans.

The federal government said the new policy would cut about 800,000 borrowers from the loan forgiveness program out of the universe of about 4 million borrowers with FFEL loans.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said Monday the administration is "working on a way" to support private lenders.

The state of Arizona also sued the Biden administration, arguing that the widespread availability of debt relief would turn some borrowers away from the public service loan forgiveness program. It is a government initiative aimed at encouraging workers to give up high wages in the private sector and work in the public sector. After a decade in these roles, a borrower's entire outstanding loan balance can be forgiven.

Other legal challenges were dismissed almost as quickly as they were filed. In Wisconsin, a conservative group tried to block debt cancellation by arguing that the president did not have the authority to cancel debts. It also alleged that the White House deliberately designed the program to benefit borrowers of color, saying it violated the Constitution's guarantees of equal protections under the laws. The case was filed on October 4, and on October 6, a judge dismissed the case, saying the group lacked legal status.

How much does the president's student debt reduction plan cost?

Depending on who you ask, the federal government has estimated that the plan will cost about $30 billion a year for the next 10 years, or $300 billion over the next decade. The Congressional Budget Office put the cost at about $400 billion over the next 30 years, although it said in a report that such measurements are "highly uncertain." The model is based on 90 percent of eligible applicants filling out their forms, a high acceptance rate that has drawn skepticism from the White House.

From suspension of payments to cancellation of student loans in less than 3 years

In recent weeks, the conversation around student loan forgiveness has focused on how it will happen, and whether a legal challenge will derail the president's multi-billion dollar plan. That's a big change from earlier this year, with borrowers wondering when the payment gap might end or whether the average borrower would cancel any loans.

There was reason to believe they would. Biden had campaigned to forgive up to $10,000 in student loans per borrower, but some advocates began to question whether he would follow through on that promise.

The federal government froze student loan payments under President Donald Trump in March 2020, and moratorium extensions often come weeks or days before any freeze ends. In addition to halting payments, the federal government set interest rates at zero percent and collection agencies stopped trying to collect on delinquent bills.

Although the uncertainty rattled the nerves of borrowers, it allowed millions of borrowers to pay off their debt, save for a household or put food on the table. The pandemic and its accompanying sluggish economy initially prompted a moratorium, but rising gas prices and inflation prompted the Biden administration to renew it repeatedly.

In August, the federal government announced a one-time loan cancellation and called it a "final extension" of the moratorium. A year ago, the government said the extension of the payment freeze until January 2022 would be "final". But then last December, the government once again extended the moratorium.