The announcement brings the total debt cancellation approved by the administration to a historic $127 billion, benefiting nearly 3.6 million Americans.
The announcement brings the total debt cancellation approved by the administration to a historic $127 billion, benefiting nearly 3.6 million Americans.
The Biden-Harris administration has approved an additional $9 billion in debt relief for 125,000 Americans through improvements in income-driven repayment and Public Service Loan Forgiveness programs, as well as automatic relief for those with total and permanent disabilities.
Debt relief breakdown
The announcement brings the total debt cancellation approved by the administration to a historic $127 billion, benefiting nearly 3.6 million Americans, according to a press release.
Specifically, the administration has provided $5.2 billion in additional debt relief for 53,000 borrowers under Public Service Loan Forgiveness programs, nearly $2.8 billion for almost 51,000 borrowers through IDR plan fixes, and $1.2 billion for nearly 22,000 borrowers with total or permanent disabilities.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona praised the efforts to fix the student loan system, saying these actions aim to reduce red tape, address past administrative failures, and prioritize borrowers.
“The Biden-Harris administration’s laser-like focus on reducing red tape, addressing past administrative failures, and putting borrowers first have now resulted in a historic $127 billion in debt relief approved for nearly 3.6 million borrowers,” said Cardona.
“Today’s announcement builds on everything our administration has already done to protect students from unaffordable debt, make repayment more affordable, and ensure that investments in higher education pay off for students and working families,” he said.
Ongoing initiatives
The administration has also introduced initiatives such as the SAVE program, which offers affordable student loan repayment plans, secured the largest increase in Pell Grants in a decade, and implemented new rules to protect borrowers from problematic career programs.
Moreover, the Department of Education has initiated negotiations under the Higher Education Act to explore additional avenues for debt relief, targeting borrowers with balances exceeding their original borrowing, those eligible for existing relief but unenrolled, and individuals facing financial hardships not addressed by the current loan system.
To date, the Biden-Harris Administration has approved approximately $126.2 billion in debt cancellation for over 3.4 million borrowers, covering a range of eligibility criteria, including income-driven repayment fixes, Public Service Loan Forgiveness programs, total and permanent disability relief and cases related to school misconduct or closures.
