Student Loans: Biden Cancels Another $9 Billion in Debt — Is Yours Among the $127 Billion Forgiven So Far?
Written by
Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy
Edited by
Nicholas Morine
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Just a few days following the resumption of student loan payments, President Joe Biden announced on Oct. 4 that an additional 125,000 Americans have been approved for $9 billion in debt relief.
The Department of Education indicated that this enactment was possible through fixes it made to income-driven repayment (IDR) and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) programs, as well as via granting automatic relief for borrowers with total and permanent disabilities, according to a statement.
This latest announcement brings the total approved debt cancellation by the Biden-Harris administration to $127 billion for nearly 3.6 million Americans, according to the Department of Education.
“This kind of relief is lifechanging for individuals and their families, but it’s good for our economy as a whole as well,” President Biden said in remarks on Oct. 4, according to a transcript. “By freeing millions of Americans from the crushing burden of student debt, it means they can go and get their lives in order. They can think about buying a house. They can start a business. They can be starting a family. This matters. It matters in their daily lives.”
The administration detailed that this latest relief includes:
- $5.2 billion in additional debt relief for 53,000 borrowers under Public Service Loan Forgiveness programs.
- $2.8 billion in new debt relief for nearly 51,000 borrowers through fixes to income-driven repayment. These are borrowers who made 20 years or more of payments but never got the relief they were ostensibly entitled to.
- $1.2 billion for nearly 22,000 borrowers who have a total or permanent disability who have been identified and approved for discharge through a data match with the Social Security Administration.
Bridget Haile, chief customer officer at Summer, said this additional cancellation — issued under existing programs — will help a lot of borrowers get out of debt, or significantly reduce the negative impacts.
“We’ve already heard from borrowers who work with Summer who have received forgiveness under these existing programs,” she said. “Yet $9 billion is still only half a percent of the existing federal student loan debt.”
Haile was more concerned about the rocky restart to repayment that millions of borrowers are experiencing, including incorrect billing statements, forced forbearances and payment miscalculations.
“There’s still a long way to go in making sure the majority of borrowers can access help, particularly with loan servicers experiencing significant delays,” added Haile.
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