Student-loan forgiveness is coming early for some borrowers. Here's what you need to do to qualify.

• The Education Department has moved up the timeline for some borrowers to receive relief under the SAVE plan.
• Borrowers who originally borrowed $12,000 or less can get relief with as few as 10 years of payments.
• Other borrowers not enrolled in SAVE will need to take action to get the benefit.

Some student-loan borrowers might be on track to get their balances wiped out ahead of schedule.

Last week, President Joe Biden's Education Department announced that in February, it will begin getting student-loan forgiveness to borrowers who originally borrowed $12,000 or less for their educations and have completed as few as 10 years of qualifying payments.

Previously, borrowers on income-driven repayment plans had to make at least 20 years of qualifying payments to get their balances zeroed out.

This is a result of an early implementation of a provision in Biden's new SAVE income-driven repayment plan, intended to give borrowers cheaper monthly payments and shorten their timelines for debt relief.

"Today's announcement will help struggling borrowers who have been making loan payments for years, including many who never graduated from college," Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal said in a statement last week. "Giving borrowers with smaller loans a faster path to being debt free will help many borrowers avoid financial distress and have peace of mind."

This benefit will be put into effect ahead of schedule — all provisions of the SAVE plan were set to be implemented by July 1, 2024. While some borrowers will receive the relief automatically, others might need to take some action. Here's what you need to know.

Which borrowers qualify for early relief?

Borrowers must first be enrolled in the SAVE plan to qualify for this early relief, which they can do at studentaid.gov. Following that, any borrower enrolled in SAVE who originally borrowed $12,000 or less for their undergraduate or graduate studies is eligible to get their remaining balances wiped out.

What if I originally borrowed more than $12,000?

Those who originally borrowed more than $12,000 could still see a shorter timeline for relief. According to the Education Department, for every $1,000 a borrower took out about the $12,000 threshold, they can get their loans wiped out after another year of payments.

"That means a borrower who originally borrowed less than $21,000 will be eligible for forgiveness faster than the 20-year timeline for undergraduate borrowers on SAVE," the department's press release said. "The benefit is based upon the original principal balance of all federal loans borrowed to attend school, not what a borrower currently owes or the amount of an individual loan."

Periods during the pandemic student-loan payment pause and the income-driven repayment account adjustments will also count toward the new forgiveness benefits.

Do I need to take any action?

If a borrower is already enrolled in the SAVE plan, they will not need to take any action — if they qualify, the relief will be implemented automatically.

Those not enrolled in SAVE will need to apply for the plan to benefit from the new provision. The Education Department has already begun notifying borrowers whose balances suggest they could benefit from the shortened timeframe for debt relief and will continue communications with borrowers to encourage them to enroll in SAVE.

When will I receive the relief?

Borrowers who automatically qualify for the shortened timeline for relief will begin seeing their balances wiped out in February. The department will notify those borrowers of their relief, and it will also send emails to borrowers not enrolled in SAVE that qualify to get their loans forgiven as soon as they sign up for the repayment plan.

The department said it will continue to identify borrowers who qualify for relief on "a regular basis," per the press release.