The Biden administration announced Friday another round of student loan forgiveness, clearing $4.28 billion in debt for nearly 55,000 public service workers. This latest action brings the total student loan relief under President Biden to approximately $180 billion, benefiting 4.9 million borrowers.
The debt relief targets individuals enrolled in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, which was established in 2007 to support workers in critical public sectors including special education teachers healthcare, law enforcement, and emergency response.
Under the PSLF program, borrowers who work in public service organizations become eligible for loan forgiveness after making 120 qualifying monthly payments. The Biden administration expanded the program's eligibility requirements in 2021, leading to over 1 million borrowers receiving forgiveness through this pathway.
"Four years ago, the Biden-Harris Administration made a pledge to America's teachers, service members, nurses, first responders, and other public servants that we would fix the broken Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, and I'm proud to say that we delivered," said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.
The latest round of relief includes borrowers who qualified through both the limited PSLF waiver that ended in October 2022 and recent regulatory improvements to the program.
While the administration has successfully provided targeted relief through the PSLF program, its broader student debt forgiveness initiatives face ongoing legal challenges. The Saving for a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan remains paused due to Republican-led lawsuits, though borrowers can switch to alternative repayment plans to continue working toward loan forgiveness.
President Biden's actions on student debt relief mark the largest forgiveness effort by any U.S. president, despite facing persistent legal obstacles to implementing wider-scale debt cancellation programs.