Education Department unveils nearly $5 billion in student loan relief
Misty Severi
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The Biden administration announced it will cancel another nearly $5 billion in student loan debt on Wednesday, affecting those under the income-driven repayment forgiveness and Public Service Loan Forgiveness programs.
The new cancellations, which were made by the Education Department, are expected to help approximately 80,300 borrowers and bring the total amount of student debt relief provided under the Biden administration to $132 billion for more than 3.6 million borrowers.
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“Before President Biden took office, it was virtually impossible for eligible borrowers to access the student debt relief they rightfully earned,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement. “The data released today once again make clear that the Biden-Harris Administration’s relentless efforts to fix the broken student loan system are paying off in a big way, with more than 3.6 million borrowers now approved for nearly $132 billion in loan forgiveness. This level of debt relief is unparalleled and we have no intention of slowing down.”
The funds were directed to two different groups of borrowers. The first group consisted of eligible borrowers who are enrolled in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which forgives any remaining student loan debt from qualifying public-sector workers who make 10 years worth of monthly payments. The second consisted of borrowers who make at least 20 years of qualifying payments in an income-driven repayment program but didn’t get credit for all of their student loan payments.
The billions in federal student loan relief comes even after the Supreme Court stopped President Joe Biden‘s student loan forgiveness program in August, which would have forgiven up to $20,000 in student loan debt for eligible low- and middle-income borrowers. It also comes after the White House rolled out its “SAVE” debt forgiveness plan over the summer.
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The borrowers who were affected by Wednesday’s cancellations should have received an email from the president in November, which notified them that the rest of their loans would be canceled in the coming weeks.
“I’m proud that we were able to give borrowers like you the relief you earned,” Biden told borrowers in the email. “I promise you that as long as I am President, I will never stop fighting for hardworking American families, and will never stop working to make sure our democracy delivers for the American people.”