Missouri Judge Rules in Favor of Blocking Yet to Be Finalized Rule to Provide Student Loan Debt Relief

Missouri Judge Rules in Favor of Blocking Yet-to-Be Finalized Rule to Provide Student Loan Debt Relief

Oct 07, 2024

On October 3, 2024, a Trump-appointed judge in Missouri ruled in favor of the Attorneys General in eight states, led by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey to block a yet-to-be finalized rule from the Biden-Harris Administration that aimed to provide student loan debt relief to millions of borrowers.

In April 2024, the U.S. Department of Education had proposed student loan debt relief for individuals including:

• Borrowers eligible for debt relief under an Income-Driven Repayment plan, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, or other relief programs but who are not enrolled;
• Borrowers crushed by runaway interest;
• Borrowers who have been stuck in repayment for over 20 years; and
• Borrowers who have attended low-value programs or schools.

Our coalition partner at the Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC) Deputy Executive Director and Managing Counsel Persis Yu, JD, MSW issued the following statement: "With a dearth of legal reasoning, today's decision takes the extraordinary step of blocking a proposed federal student debt relief rule that has yet to be finalized and has never been implemented. This case lacks seriousness and this judge's order puts our captured courts on full display. With this case, the Missouri Attorney General continues to put naked political interest and corporate greed ahead of student loan borrowers in Missouri and across the country. This is a shameful attack on tens of millions of student loan borrowers and our judicial system as a whole. We will not stop fighting to expose these abuses and ensure borrowers get the relief they deserve."

NASW will continue to advocate for student loan debt relief for social workers.