WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday is expected to announce the fate of President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan.
The case was argued back in late February and focused on the Biden administration's efforts to erase up to $20,000 in student debt for more than 40 million Americans.
Those same borrowers have been anxiously waiting for months to hear the court's decision.
When will student loan forgiveness be decided?
Chief Justice John Roberts announced Thursday that Friday would be the final day of the court's term, meaning they will issue opinions on their remaining cases starting at 10 a.m. Eastern.
The conservative-majority court seems poised to strike down Biden's plan, which would erase $10,000 in federal student loan debt for those with incomes below $125,000 a year or households that earn less than $250,000. He also wants to cancel an additional $10,000 for those who received federal Pell Grants to attend college.
When will student loan payments resume?
The court's decision will be handed down on Friday, June 30.
What's somewhat interesting about that timing is that months ago Biden's final extension of the pause on student loan payments set June 30 as a key date for the timeline toward resuming payments.
In November, the student loan pause was extended until 60 days after the court case was resolved. But it included a caveat that if the lawsuit wasn't resolved by June 30, payments would resume 60 days after that.
For a time, there was some ambiguity over when student loan payments would resume. The debt ceiling deal Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached earlier this year solidified that the student loan payment pause would end 60 days after June 30, 2023, according to the bill’s text.
The U.S. Department of Education has confirmed that student loan payments will be due again in October, with interest kicking in on Sept. 1, restarting loans that have been frozen since March 2020.