Biden Admin Approves $1.2B in Student Loan Forgiveness
Credit: Scott Olson / Getty Images- The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program erases debt for public servants after 10 years of work.
- Few borrowers, however, had been able to benefit from the program prior to 2021.
- Biden has continually granted debt forgiveness to these servants during his presidency.
- This latest action is another example of this trend.
President Joe Biden’s administration approved another $1.2 billion in federal student loan forgiveness for government workers and other public servants.
The Department of Education (ED) announced Thursday that roughly 35,000 borrowers would benefit from this debt forgiveness action. It’s the latest in a series of student loan discharges the department has approved since Biden took office in January 2021, with an emphasis on forgiveness for public servants and low-income borrowers.
Biden’s administration has thus far forgiven $168.5 billion in student loans for 4.76 million borrowers, ED stated.
ED has granted approximately $69.2 billion in forgiveness through “fixes” to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program during the Biden administration, benefiting roughly 946,000 borrowers.
PSLF is a program designed to incentivize people into public service jobs by offering complete federal student loan debt forgiveness after a decade of service. However, borrower advocacy groups say previous red tape made it difficult for borrowers to ever see relief.
“Once again, the Biden-Harris administration delivers on its historic efforts to reduce the burden of student debt — making needed and long overdue improvements to PSLF. The additional Americans approved for PSLF today are hardworking public servants who will finally receive the financial breathing room they were promised,” ED Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement.
“This is relief that will bring real change in their lives and marks another win for this administration’s relentless and unapologetic work to fix a broken student loan system.”
Prior to Thursday’s announcement, the administration’s latest debt forgiveness had been for $7.7 billion in late May. This applied to both PSLF beneficiaries and borrowers enrolled in income-driven repayment (IDR) plans.
Stephanie Hall, senior director for higher education policy at the Center for American Progress, commended the president’s action.
“Not only does this action support individual financial well-being, but it also strengthens the broader economy by giving borrowers the economic freedom to invest in their futures through homeownership, entrepreneurship, and other pursuits,” she said in a statement.
“We have to continue supporting and protecting these routes to student debt relief. Higher education should be a gateway to opportunity, not a financial burden.”
Given the consistency of these debt forgiveness approvals, ED is likely to issue one or two more debt forgiveness actions before the November general election.