Over $6 Billion in Federal Student Loan Debt to Be Forgiven by Biden Administration
Earlier this week, the U.S. Education Department announced that an additional 30,000 individuals will now be eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Public Service Loan Forgiveness is a program that forgives student debt for various public servants who make 10 years of monthly payments.
About 15 years ago, PSLF was created to provide loans to borrowers who worked in education, health care, emergency services, and more. However, in October, the Biden administration expanded the program after criticizing its strict and confusing requirements, which led to 98 percent of applicants being denied.
Borrowers who weren’t eligible for credit were able to receive it due to temporary changes. According to CNN, approximately 100,000 people are now eligible for PSLF; these cancellations will total about $6.2 billion in student debt relief. Biden administration officials estimated last fall that the updated program would benefit about 555,000 borrowers.
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“Our nation’s public service workers must be able to rely on the promise of Public Service Loan Forgiveness. The Biden-Harris administration is delivering on that promise by helping more and more eligible borrowers get their loan balances forgiven,” said the Education Secretary, Miguel Cardona.
“The PSLF announcement made today means more of our dedicated teachers, nurses, first responders, service members, and many other public service workers will get meaningful relief.”
According to Complex, not all eligible borrowers have received their debt relief notification, and no date has been set for their contact. CARES Act, signed by former president Donald Trump in March 2020, removes the requirement that federal student loans be repaid. That pause is expected to end on May 1.
Meanwhile, Biden has not yet fulfilled his campaign promise to cancel at least $10,000 of student loans per borrower. More than $1.7 trillion worth of student loans are owed by 43 million people.
