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Within days, millions of Americans are expected to be able to take their first steps to cancel up to $20,000 in debt under President Joe Biden's federal student loan forgiveness program -- a multibillion-dollar initiative cheered on by advocates but which already faces legal challenges.

The Biden administration announced in August that single borrowers who earn under $125,000 can qualify for $10,000 in federal school loan debt cancellation while those who are married qualify for that amount if their joint income is under $250,000 (as calculated by gross adjusted income from 2020 or 2021).

Recipients of Pell grants -- which are designed for people with "exceptional financial need," according to the government -- are eligible for an additional $10,000 to be canceled, or $20,000 total

Of the 43 million federal student loan borrowers who have accrued more than $500 billion in debt, most will need to fill out an application to see if they qualify for forgiveness. Only about 8 million of those borrowers will automatically have their debt canceled, according to the White House, because the Department of Education already has their income information.

In late September, the Biden administration quietly excluded some borrowers of Perkins loans and Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL). Both groups formerly qualified for loan cancellation. While some 4 million Americans in total have these loans, an administration official told ABC News that only about 770,000 people will be affected by the change.

At a Sept. 26 briefing, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said there would be additional updates on the application process "very soon." The administration initially said that the "simple process" would open in early October. Later, officials told reporters that the application would be available by the end of the month but reiterated that it would be "easy" and "straightforward."

Outside experts are more skeptical of how smoothly the program will run.

"When you see the huge numbers that the administration projects will benefit from this initiative, that all depends on people being able to take these steps and have that debt relief applied to their account in a way that actually works," said Mike Pierce, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, an advocacy group.

October: Loan forgiveness applications open

Applications for student loan cancellation will be released sometime in October, according to administration officials, though a more specific date has not yet been confirmed and the original timeline of early-October has been delayed.

The department is recommending that everyone file an application, even those who might already qualify for automatic forgiveness.

To be notified when the process has officially opened, the department recommends borrowers sign up at their subscription page. (Private companies like Navient and Nelnet, which help administer the loans and repayments, are likewise referring borrowers to a government portal created to share updates on student loans.)

It's unclear how many of the 43 million borrowers will submit applications. In cost estimates, the White House has said it could be as many as 75% of eligible people or as few as 50%.

"It will all depend on how good we are getting the word out about this opportunity and making sure that people actually do raise their hands to get in the line to get their debts canceled," Pierce said.

Nov. 15: The recommended deadline to apply

DOE officials recommend that borrowers apply for student loan forgiveness by Nov. 15 in order to receive relief before the pandemic-era payment pause expires on Dec. 31 and interest begins accruing again.

The department said they expect a four-to-six-week turnaround for forgiveness.

However, some advocates like Pierce worry that may not be feasible, given the track record the federal government has with processing debt relief.

The DOE has not released details regarding a plan for borrowers whose applications are still being processed by the time the payment pause lifts after December.

Jan. 1: Student loan payments resume

Jan. 1 is when regular student loan payments will resume after a three-year moratorium first enacted under President Donald Trump during the onset of COVID-19. If a borrower's entire balance is not erased by the federal forgiveness program, interest will begin accruing again on the remaining sum.

Dec. 31, 2023 : The program application sunsets

The application period for student loan forgiveness will close on Dec. 31, 2023.

ABC News' Arhur Jones II contributed to this report.

The resignation of Harvard president Claudine Gay after "facing national backlash for her administration's response to Hamas' Oct. 7 attack and allegations of plagiarism in her scholarly work" does not solve the problem at America's oldest college and other elite schools. She and many other university presidents are only a symptom of what's wrong with our system of education, from bottom to top.

Education, like a building or a life, must have a firm foundation or whatever is built on it will collapse when storms or other challenges come.

Ivy League schools, especially, were established on a foundation of biblical principles. From its founding in 1636, Harvard's motto has been "Veritas," or Truth. It was meant to demonstrate not only that objective truth exists, but where to find it. A proper education was thought to require attention to body, mind and spirit. Today, the body is cared for at the gym, the mind has been poisoned by propaganda forged from a secular-progressive worldview, and the spirit is more likely to be found in a bottle of beer than in anything holy.

Yale traveled the same path as Harvard. Founded in 1701, the New Haven school has as its motto " Lux et veritas," or "light and truth." It was believed by Yale's founders that the essentials of proper learning should include the light of a liberal education (liberal meant something different then) and the truth could be found in New England's religious tradition.

It was the same for Princeton and Dartmouth. Princeton, founded in 1746, subscribed to this motto: DEI SUB NUMINE VIGET, which means " Under God's power she flourishes." Princeton seminary, built on a foundation of biblical truth, went liberal (in the bad sense of the word) with professors questioning the authority of Scripture.

Dartmouth, founded in 1769, had as its motto " Vox clamantis in deserto," which means "a voice crying in the wilderness." It is a biblical reference to John the Baptist who introduced Jesus Christ to the world. While the school was originally established to educate Native Americans in Christian theology and what was called the English way of life, the university primarily trained congregationalist ministers during its early history before it gradually secularized like so many others, following the spirit of the age.

These and many other once great universities have departed from their founding principles and what once defined a well-rounded education. For this and other reasons, college degrees are seemingly not worth what they once were and that is why - along with increasing costs - many young people are pursuing other avenues, including trade schools.

Forbes magazine reported: " Nationwide, undergraduate college enrollment dropped 8% from 2019 to 2022, with declines even after returning to in-person classes, according to data from the National Student Clearinghouse. The slide in the college-going rate since 2018 is the steepest on record, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics."

American public schools have followed the path of these universities, incorporating subjects that have little to do with a proper education, and in too many instances indoctrinating young people with a secular progressive worldview that produces votes for Democrats.

Need proof to support that assertion? According to Pew Research Center," In 2022, voters with a college degree or more education favored Democratic candidates while those with no college degree preferred Republicans - continuing a long-standing trend in polarization among American voters by education."

If you are a conservative parent, you would be wise not to send your child to one of these colleges and expect them to return with the values and beliefs you taught them. If you're a liberal, sending your kids to these schools will simply reinforce what you and they already believe, which is not a real education.

Gay's resignation will make no difference without a fundamental restructuring of what is taught. The same goes for other institutions of "higher learning."