In recent years, America’s student-loan policy has come to resemble an alphabet soup. During the covid-19 pandemic, relief came from the CARES, ARPA and HEROES acts. Repayment plans ranged from the appropriately named (SAVE and PAYE) to the less so (PSLF and TEPSLF). Even seasoned bureaucrats at the FSA will have struggled to keep track. Owing to these various policies, some $189bn in student debt was forgiven, and more than $260bn of payments waived.