President Joe Biden’s administration has announced that it is canceling the student loans for an additional 160,000 borrowers.
That will erase $7.7 billion in federal student loans.
The big picture: This latest action brings the total student debt canceled by the administration to $167 billion for nearly 5 million Americans through various forgiveness programs.
- The relief will cover borrowers in three categories: 54,000 in Biden’s new income-driven repayment plan, 39,000 in earlier income-driven plans, and about 67,000 eligible through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
- The recently implemented SAVE Plan offers a faster path to loan forgiveness, with more borrowers becoming eligible for cancellation as they hit 10 years of payments, a decade sooner than previous repayment plans.
- The cancellation is progressing despite legal challenges from Republican-led states, with lawsuits contesting the need for congressional approval for the overhaul of federal repayment plans.
- The administration has also corrected previous mistakes that delayed loan cancellation for some borrowers enrolled in other repayment plans and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
What they’re saying: “From day one of my administration, I promised to fight to ensure higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity,” Biden said in a statement. “I will never stop working to cancel student debt – no matter how many times Republican-elected officials try to stop us.”
