Oct. 4 (UPI) — The Biden administration announced a new round of student loan relief that will wipe away $9 billion in debt for 125,000 Americans, the White House said.
The White House said it is providing new relief to targeted segments of the population, including $2.8 billion that will go to 51,000 borrowers who have made loan payments for at least 20 years.
Another $5.2 billion is being provided to 53,000 people under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and $1.2 billion in debt will be discharged for 22,000 borrowers with permanent disabilities.
“President Biden has long believed that college should be a ticket to the middle class, not a burden that weighs on families,” the White House said in a statement. “Today’s announcement builds on all that the Biden-Harris Administration has done to make college more affordable and ensure that student loans aren’t a barrier to opportunity for students and families.”
The latest move comes as the administration seeks new approaches to student loan forgiveness following a Supreme Court decision in June that took tens of thousands of dollars in debt relief off the table for millions of cash-strapped Americans.
That plan would have forgiven up to $20,000 in individual loan debt for every borrower, but it was rejected after Republican states sued in the nation’s highest court, claiming the move would leave taxpayers on the hook for the money.
At the same time, federal student loan repayments were coming back due this month after being paused throughout much of the pandemic.
As part of the latest relief effort, the Education Department released a state-by-state breakdown showing the positive impact of debt forgiveness nationwide, with hundreds of millions of dollars going toward the effort in nearly every state.
“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,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said.
Since Biden took office, the administration has rolled out a number of piecemeal reforms, like those that recently wiped away debt for defrauded or disabled students and public service workers, leading to $127 billion in total debt cancellation for nearly 4 million people.
However, the debt cancellations have fallen far short of what was sought by progressive Democrats in Congress, while the broader swath of the middle class has been left empty-handed.
After the high court rebuffed his original loan forgiveness program, Biden vowed to pursue an alternative path to debt relief through the Higher Education Act.
In August, the administration launched an affordable student loan repayment plan that makes monthly payments more affordable and prevents balances from rising due to unpaid interest.
Biden’s efforts have also been frustrated as Republicans in Congress were likely to reject any student debt relief proposals from the White House.
The Education Department has established a committee to explore further solutions to help borrowers.
