The Biden-Harris administration has announced the approval of $4.28 billion in student loan relief for 54,900 borrowers who work in public service. This brings the total loan forgiveness to around $180 billion for nearly five million Americans, according to the Department of Education.
“The public servants approved for debt cancellation today include teachers, nurses, service members, law enforcement officials, and other public service workers who have dedicated their lives to giving back to their communities and who are finally earning the relief they are entitled to under the law,” Biden said in a press release.
This round of student loan forgiveness follows Biden’s promise to make higher education more accessible.
“From Day One of my Administration, I promised to make sure that higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity,” he added. “Because of our actions, millions of people across the country now have the breathing room to start businesses, save for retirement, and pursue life plans they had to put on hold because of the burden of student loan debt.”
The approval comes as changes were made to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program to make it easier for borrowers to participate.
“The U.S. Department of Education’s successful transformation of the PSLF Program is a testament to what’s possible when you have leaders, like President Biden and Vice President Harris, who are relentlessly and unapologetically focused on making government deliver for everyday working people,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said, per the Department of Education.
Signed into law by then-President George W. Bush in 2007, the PSLF program was created by a bipartisan act of Congress, according to Politico. It forgives loans for borrowers who have made payments for 10 years while working public service jobs. The first group of borrowers became eligible in 2017 but the program had a 99% denial rate at the time.
As a response, the American Federation of Teachers filed a lawsuit against the then-Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in 2019. It was settled in 2021. The incoming Trump administration is not expected to offer further student loan forgiveness.
“During his first term President Trump refused to deliver meaningful debt relief for borrowers. His administration ignored or denied borrowers defense applications for years,” Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass) said in Dec, according to Politico. “President Trump’s negligence has led to harm, pain for people across the country.”
Previously, the Biden-Harris administration approved a whopping $56.5 billion for over 1.4 million borrowers through Income-Driven Repayment, $28.7 billion for over 1.6 million borrowers who experienced their institutions closing and more, as well as $16.2 billion for nearly 572,000 borrowers with disabilities.
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