The Supreme Court on Wednesday kept President Joe Biden's latest student debt relief plan on hold while multiple lawsuits make their way through lower courts.

What You Need To Know

  • The Supreme Court kept the Biden administration's latest student debt relief plan on hold while multiple lawsuits make their way through lower courts

  • The Education Department is seeking to provide a faster path to loan cancellation, and reduce monthly income-based repayments from 10% to 5% of a borrower's discretionary income

  • The plan also wouldn't require borrowers to make payments if they earn less than 225% of the federal poverty line — $32,800 a year for a single person

  • Cost estimates of the new SAVE plan vary: the Republican-led states challenging the plan peg the cost at $475 billion over 10 years, while the Biden administration cites a Congressional Budget Office estimate of $276 billion

The justices rejected an administration request to put most of it back into effect. It was blocked by 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

In an unsigned order, the court said it expects the appeals court to issue a fuller decision on the plan "with appropriate dispatch."

The Education Department is seeking to provide a faster path to loan cancellation, and reduce monthly income-based repayments from 10% to 5% of a borrower's discretionary income. The plan also wouldn't require borrowers to make payments if they earn less than 225% of the federal poverty line — $32,800 a year for a single person.

Last year, the Supreme Court's conservative majority rejected an earlier plan that would have wiped away more than $400 billion in student loan debt.

Cost estimates of the new SAVE plan vary. The Republican-led states challenging the plan peg the cost at $475 billion over 10 years. The Biden administration cites a Congressional Budget Office estimate of $276 billion.