Biden Cancels Additional $9bn in Student Loan Debt – President Joe Biden’s recent announcement states that an extra 125,000 individuals have received approval for student debt relief, totaling $9 billion. With this latest approval, the White House reports that President Biden’s administration has now approved a total of $127 billion in debt cancellation for almost 3.6 million Americans.
The recent approvals comprise $5.2 billion in extra debt relief for 53,000 borrowers within the Public Service Loan Forgiveness programs, approximately $2.8 billion in fresh debt relief for nearly 51,000 borrowers through improvements to income-driven repayment, and an additional $1.2 billion for nearly 22,000 borrowers with total or permanent disabilities.
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In an address on Wednesday, Biden said that his administration’s efforts to relieve student debt is “not done yet”, adding: “My administration is doing everything we can to deliver student debt relief for as many as we can, as fast as we can.” “While a college degree is still the ticket toward a better life, that ticket has become excessively expensive.”
“Americans who are saddled with unsustainable debt in exchange for a college degree has become norm,” he said. Continuing his remarks, Biden expressed his disapproval of the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision earlier this year, in which the conservative-majority court ruled against his administration’s $430 billion student debt forgiveness plan for 40 million borrowers.
“Republican-elected officials and special interests stepped up and sued us and the supreme court sided with them, snatching from the hands of millions of Americans thousands of dollars of student debt relief that was about to change their lives,” he said of the decision.
The education secretary, Miguel Cardona, hailed Biden’s decision on Wednesday, saying: “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 $127bn in debt relief approved for nearly 3.6 million borrowers.”
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“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 added. After the Supreme Court’s decision earlier this year, the Biden administration introduced the Saving on a Valuable Education (Save) plan, set to be fully implemented in July next year.
This plan raises the income exception from 150% to 225% of the poverty line. Additionally, it aims to cut payments on undergraduate loans by half and guarantees that borrowers will never see their balance increase as long as they meet their required payments, as stated by the Department of Education.