More student loans canceled in Biden's final round of forgiveness before leaving office
The Biden administration says it is canceling federal student loans for another 55,000 public service workers through an existing forgiveness program
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Biden administration is canceling federal student loans for another 55,000 workers through an existing program known as Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
The Education Department's announcement Friday targets teachers, nurses, service members, law enforcement officials and others who've reached eligibility through the program, which promises to erase loans after 10 years of work in government or nonprofit jobs.
The $4.28 billion in relief is expected to be the final round of public service loan forgiveness before President Joe Biden leaves office in January. After failing to deliver his promise of widespread loan cancellation, Biden has instead focused on expanding loan relief through programs that were created before his presidency.
Under Biden, the Education Department loosened the rules for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, which previously had a 99% rejection rate amid burdensome rules and widespread confusion over eligibility requirements.
With the latest round of relief, Biden has now canceled an unprecedented $180 billion in federal student loans through existing programs, covering 4.9 million Americans. That includes $78 billion for roughly 1 million borrowers through PSLF.
“From Day One of my Administration, I promised to make sure that higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity,” Biden said in a statement. “Because of our actions, millions of people across the country now have the breathing room to start businesses, save for retirement, and pursue life plans they had to put on hold because of the burden of student loan debt.”
Still, the Democrat has fallen short of his goal to deliver widespread relief to millions of other Americans. Biden’s first attempt at mass cancellation was blocked by the Supreme Court, and his second attempt remains tangled in a legal battle brought by Republican states.
In October he proposed another rule that would cancel loans for people facing various kinds of financial hardship, though it's unlikely to take effect.
Trump hasn't detailed student loan plans for his second term, but on the campaign trail he called Biden's cancellation plans illegal and “vile.” Republicans in Congress have slammed Biden over his cancellation work, saying it unfairly transfers the burden to taxpayers who didn't go to college or already repaid their loans.
___
The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.