The Biden administration announced another massive round of student debt handouts Wednesday morning with $7.7 billion going toward clearing debt for more than 160,000 borrowers.
Three categories of borrowers are covered in the latest handout: people receiving Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), people signed up for President Biden’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan who are also eligible for its shortened time-to-forgiveness benefit and people receiving forgiveness on income-driven repayment (IDR) as a result of fixes made by the administration.
It includes $5.2 billion for 66,900 borrowers through fixes to PSLF, $613 million for 54,300 borrowers through the SAVE Plan that will go to borrowers enrolled in the SAVE Plan who had smaller loans for their postsecondary studies and $1.9 billion for 39,200 borrowers through administrative adjustments to IDR payment counts, the Department of Education said in a press release.
As of Wednesday’s announcement, the Biden administration has cleared $167 billion in student loan debt for 4.75 million Americans, the DOE said.
“The Biden-Harris Administration remains persistent about our efforts to bring student debt relief to millions more across the country, and this announcement proves it,” Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in the release. “One out of every 10 federal student loan borrowers approved for debt relief means one out of every 10 borrowers now has financial breathing room and a burden lifted.”
The DOE also announced an update on the timing of the payment count adjustment, saying that the fix ensures borrowers receive credit for progress they made toward IDR forgiveness and PSLF. Borrowers now have until June 30 to apply to consolidate.
“Another 160,000 borrowers and their families will get some much-needed relief thanks to the continued efforts [of] the Biden-Harris Administration to fix the broken student loan system,” Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal said. “We congratulate those borrowers on their due forgiveness and we will continue to work to deliver relief to others.”
