Biden Has Canceled Over $143 Billion in Student Loan Debt So Far

Since US President Joe Biden first took office, his administration has canceled $143.6 billion in student loans through executive actions, providing relief to about four million Americans who borrowed to attend college.

This amount has been approved despite the Supreme Court’s decision to block Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, which would have canceled up to $20,000 in student debt for millions of borrowers, Erudera.com reports.

The Biden-Harris administration has most recently canceled about $6 billion for an additional 78,000 student loan borrowers through Public Service Loan Forgiveness, bringing the total amount canceled to $143.6, the White House has announced. Public service workers eligible for student debt forgiveness include teachers, nurses, firefighters, social workers, and more.

The White House highlighted the progress that has been made with student loan forgiveness, adding that the administration will continue to pursue alternative paths to provide debt relief to as many student loan borrowers as possible, as soon as possible.

The same stressed that under Biden's student loan forgiveness plan, Pell Grants have seen the largest increase in more than ten years to help those who earn less than $60,000 a year.

“President Biden will email an additional 380,000 public service workers thanking them for their service and notifying them they are on track to have their debt cancelled through PSLF within two years,” the US Department of Education said.

According to US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, for so many years, public service workers have faced challenges while trying to get the debt relief they were eligible for.

“Today, more than 100 times more borrowers are eligible for PSLF than there were at the beginning of the Administration,” Cardona said in a statement released on March 21 while announcing the approval of $5.8 billion in student loan debt.

In addition to the relief under PSLF, Biden has canceled:

• $45.6 billion for 930,500 borrowers through improvements to income-driven repayment plans.
• $22.5 billion for 1.3 million borrowers who were defrauded by their schools.
• $11.7 billion for about 513,000 borrowers with a total and permanent disability.

In February, President Biden approved an additional $1.2 billion in student debt relief for nearly 153,000 borrowers enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment plan, introduced in August last year. SAVE is an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan that calculates monthly payments based on borrowers’ income and family size.