$49.2B Approved in Student Loan Debt for Nearly 1 Million Borrowers

The Biden-Harris administration has forgiven $49.2 billion in student loan debt for nearly a million borrowers.

At least 996,000 borrowers have received relief under the Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) Account Adjustment, a one-time program first announced in 2022, which aims to tackle problems with income-driven and PSLF plans, Erudera.com reports.

Earlier this month, the Biden-Harris administration approved $7.4 billion in additional student debt relief for 277,000 borrowers under Biden’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan.

According to a statement by the US Department of Education on April 12, this forgiveness comes after about 8 million borrowers received relief under the SAVE plan, including 4.5 million with a $0 monthly payment.

“As long as there are people with overwhelming student loan debt competing with basic needs such as food and healthcare, we will remain relentless in our pursuit to bring relief to millions across the country,” the US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said.

This relief is divided into the following categories:

• $3.6 billion for about 206,800 borrowers through SAVE.
• $3.5 billion for 65,800 borrowers through administrative adjustments to IDR.
• $300 million for 4,600 borrowers through fixes to Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).

The initiative expands the debt relief program of President Joe Biden after the US Supreme Court decided to strike down his administration’s student loan forgiveness plan. So far, the administration has approved forgiveness of $153 billion for about 4.3 million student loan borrowers.

“Today, President Biden announced that 277,000 more Americans will get their student debt cancelled, bringing the total debt relief approved by the Biden-Harris Administration to $153 billion for 4.3 million Americans through various actions,” the White House said in a statement released on April 12.

According to the Education Department, one in every ten individuals holding student loan debt has received some relief.

Biden has recently released a draft of its new student loan forgiveness plan, aiming to alleviate student loan debt for millions of borrowers this fall. The public has until May 17 to look into the details and provide feedback on this program.

Additionally, the Biden-Harris Administration has also approved:

• $22.5 billion for over 1.3 million borrowers who were cheated by their schools or whose institutions have closed.
• $14.1 billion for over 548,000 borrowers with a total and permanent disability.

More than 40 million borrowers collectively owe over $1.6 trillion in student debt.