Many Americans who struggle with student loan debt have been waiting for an announcement on broad-scale student loan forgiveness and an extension of the federal student loan payment pause. 

But not all student loan borrowers will qualify for this forgiveness, and even if you do, you may find yourself with a lingering balance to manage. Here’s what this forgiveness could mean for many borrowers, and what you can do if you have more than $10,000 or $20,000 in student loan debt.

The program announced Wednesday will give borrowers who received Pell Grants up to $20,000 in debt cancelation and up to $10,000 for federal student loan borrowers who didn’t receive Pell Grants. Borrowers are only eligible for the forgiveness if their annual income is less than $125,000 ($250,000 for households).

About 15% of Americans have student loan debt, according to the Urban Institute. With an average household income of $92,324, many borrowers will likely fall below the thresholds for broad forgiveness.

However, the majority of people with student loan debt have balances of more than $10,000. In fact, average federal student loan balances among bachelor’s degree holders range from $26,100 to $35,700, depending on the type of school the borrower attended, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. 

This means a significant number of borrowers who meet the income threshold will still have federal student loan debt after receiving forgiveness. And they may also have private student loan debt that doesn’t qualify for any kind of forgiveness.

Biden’s announced that forgiveness doesn’t apply to borrowers with annual incomes of more than $125,000 — $250,000 for those married filing jointly. But some borrowers may still be able to qualify for other forgiveness programs, including:

Refinancing student loans can lead to a lower interest rate or smaller payment amount. Credible makes it easy to compare refinance rates from multiple lenders.

Wednesday’s announcement was the seventh time the student loan payment pause introduced in the CARES Act has been extended. Borrowers with federal student loans won’t have to make payments, and their debts won’t accrue interest, for another four months.

Since the payment pause began in March 2020, the Department of Education has deferred around $195 billion in loan payments for about 37 million borrowers, according to the Federal Reserve.

Wednesday’s extension gives borrowers with federal Direct Loans until Dec. 31, 2022, to continue deferring payments. After Jan. 1, 2023, loan servicers will start sending billing statements or other notices to borrowers at least 21 days before their first payments are due. Borrowers can also proactively contact their loan servicers to get an estimate of their payments and due dates.

Before payments resume, the U.S. Department of Education recommends borrowers:

Federal student loan payments will resume on Jan. 1, 2023. Borrowers who won’t be able to make their federal student loan payments at that time have some other options:

With Credible, you can quickly and easily compare student loan refinance rates from multiple lenders, without affecting your credit.