Biden Forgives Student Loan Debt
The Biden administration on Friday announced it will forgive $39 billion in student debt for about 804,000 borrowers, taking a major step to relieve a significant part of the $1.6 trillion student debt burden across the country.
The decision, which was made possible by changes to the loan system’s income-driven repayment programs, is likely to be welcomed by many left-leaning activists and lawmakers who have long called for broad student debt relief.
“These fixes are part of the Department’s commitment to address historical failures in the administration of the Federal student loan program,” the Department of Education said Friday in a press release.
Critics of the latest development argue that granting student debt relief is unfair to those who sacrificed to pay off their loans, especially since taxpayers will be ultimately footing the bill.
The Education Department’s plan to make changes to the system in order to forgive certain people’s student debt was announced in April of last year. The department plans to notify people soon whether they are eligible to have their loans forgiven under the changes - although some people who have paused their payments, as well as some people who have made partial or late payments, might qualify.
In total, the Biden administration has now forgiven more than $116.6 billion in student loans for more than 3.4 million borrowers, the Education Department said.
The news of the massive debt relief program comes shortly after the Supreme Court struck down a different $430 billion student debt relief plan proposed by Biden earlier this year which would have forgiven up to 37 million people’s student debt.
“Six States sued, arguing that the HEROES Act does not authorize the loan cancellation plan. We agree,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority.
But Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were firm in their commitment to help Americans who are taken on the burden of student debt: “Our administration will continue to fight to make sure Americans can access high-quality postsecondary education without taking on the burden of unmanageable student loan debt,” Harris said on Friday.
It remains to be seen whether or not Biden will explore further options for forgiving student debt in light of the Supreme Court’s decision, and if so, whether those measures will be found constitutional. It is certain, however, that many people across the nation are grateful for this first step in debt relief.