Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness: 74,000 Debt-Free!

As per the US student loan news, the Biden administration unveiled a fresh round of approvals for student loan forgiveness last week. This is to increase the number of borrowers receiving relief based on their public service employment. The Education Department has been implementing reforms since 2021, benefiting hundreds of thousands in non-profit and government roles. 

“I won’t back down from using every tool at our disposal to give student loan borrowers the relief they need to reach their dreams,” said Biden on this decision.

On 19 Jan 2024, Vice President Kamala Harris announced, “The approval of nearly $5 billion on student debt cancellation for 74,000 Americans. The majority of whom are teachers, nurses, firefighters, and other public servants.”

According to the US student loan news, the total student loan forgiveness approved by the Biden government comes to $136.6 billion for more than 3.7 million Americans. 

The Federal Student Aid website revealed that around 43.4 million individuals with student loans held a total outstanding debt of $1.63 trillion as of June 2023. This reflects a notable rise of almost $17 billion in the overall loan balance and an increase of nearly 600,000 in the number of student loan recipients compared to the previous year. 

In a recent announcement, the Education Department granted $3.2 billion in student loan forgiveness to nearly 44,000 borrowers. This was done through improvements to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. PSLF allows the elimination of federal student loan debt in as little as 10 years for those working in qualifying non-profit or government positions. However, the program has faced challenges such as poor loan servicing, misinformation, and inadequate record-keeping. 

The expansion of relief under PSLF is attributed to various initiatives by the Biden administration. The Limited PSLF Waier, enacted in 2021, temporarily eased restrictive rules for counting payments toward forgiveness. The IDR Adjustment extended and expanded these flexibilities, allowing additional loan periods to potentially count toward forgiveness New PSLF regulations, effective since July, codify elements of the waiver and adjustment, introducing a buyback option for borrowers.

The Biden government is also working on a new student loan forgiveness plan under the Higher Education Act, highlighted the US student loan news. The rulemaking sessions were concluded last fall, but final rules are expected this spring. Despite these efforts, Republican lawmakers, including Representative Virginia Foxx, have criticized the administration’s actions. They raised concerns about costs and bypassing congressional approval. 

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