Biden Forgives Another $4.9B in Student Loan Debt
Credit: Image Credit: Peter Zay / Anadolu / Getty Image- The Biden administration continues to approve debt relief for borrowers in income-driven repayment (IDR) plans and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program.
- Approximately 74,000 borrowers benefited from the latest approval.
- Biden has framed this debt forgiveness as a way of righting past wrongs in the federal student loan system.
President Joe Biden’s administration has approved another $4.9 billion in federal student loan debt forgiveness for low-income borrowers and public servants.
The latest announcement is tied to two Biden administration fixes to the income-driven repayment (IDR) plan system and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program.
Biden’s latest announcement covers 73,600 federal student loan borrowers.
The administration had previously given borrowers in each program a chance to consolidate their federal student loans in order to get credit toward payments they made on those loans. Those payments previously hadn’t counted toward the timeline to debt forgiveness.
The Department of Education (ED) announced the one-time account adjustment for the IDR program in April 2022. ED announced the PSLF waiver program in October 2021.
ED’s latest announcement of $4.9 billion in additional loan forgiveness includes both programs:
- $1.7 billion for 29,700 IDR borrowers
- $3.2 billion for 43,900 PSLF borrowers
ED said the Biden administration has now approved $45.7 billion in debt relief for 930,500 borrowers through his IDR fixes. The department has approved another $56.7 billion for 793,400 PSLF borrowers since October 2021.
It’s worth noting that while the PSLF waiver has since expired, borrowers can still take advantage of the IDR account adjustment. Borrowers with commercially managed Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFEL), Perkins, or Health Education Assistance Loan (HEAL) loans have until April 30, 2024, to consolidate and benefit from the IDR waiver, according to the department.
In addition to the IDR account adjustment, Biden’s Department of Education launched a new IDR plan in August 2023: the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan.