The Biden administration reveals extra $7.7 billion in student loan forgiveness.
With the November elections approaching, the administration has been eager to showcase the success of their debt cancellation initiatives. They've been announcements like this almost once a month. President Joe Biden has faced criticism from Republicans who maintain that these initiatives transfer the burden to taxpayers and weaken the Supreme Court, which put an end to the White House's student loan cancellation plan last year.
In April, the administration announced another wave of debt cancellations, worth $7.4 billion for 277,000 borrowers. They also revealed potential future student debt relief measures, slated to take effect this fall. This latest announcement brings the grand total of Americans getting their loans canceled to 4.75 million, with an average debt relief of around $35,000, the White House proclaimed.
The borrowers who received assistance from the most recent cancellations were approved by the Biden administration's SAVE Plan, other income-driven repayment plans, or the Public Student Loan Forgiveness program for eligible public service personnel.
The president remarked in a statement, "From the beginning of my term, I've vowed to combat the idea that higher education is an impediment to social mobility, not a means to reach the middle class. I won't give up my efforts to eliminate student debt - regardless of how often Republican elected officials attempt to thwart us."
Among the borrowers granted debt relief in this announcement, 66,900 with debts totaling $5.2 billion qualified for it through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, which supports jobs like teaching or nursing. This brings the total writed-off debt for PSLF program participants to $68 billion.
More than 54,000 scholars participating in the SAVE program, taking out small loans for graduate study, received $613 million in aid. Additionally, 39,200 borrowers involved in income-driven repayment programs received $1.9 billion in relief.
In recent times, the Biden administration has been working on new plans, set on a different legal foundation, intended to extend aid to specific groups of borrowers.
Case in point, borrowers with student loans exceeding the initial sum they took out could see the accrued interest on those loans excused.
These plans haven't been finalized, but officials from the administration have hinted that some might be enacted as soon as this fall.
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Source: edition.cnn.com
