The Biden administration announced on Wednesday another student loan initiative that will cancel an additional $7.7 billion in student loan debt for borrowers.
The majority of the beneficiaries in this latest cancellation will be participants in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. This program forgives the debt of individuals working in qualifying public service jobs, such as public safety, health, and education, after 10 years of payments.
Additionally, over 39,000 students enrolled in the Education Department’s Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) program will benefit. This initiative forgives loans for individuals who have been making payments based on 10% or 15% of their income for a decade.
With this latest announcement, President Biden’s administration will have canceled a total of $167 billion in student loan debt, according to the New York Post.
“Education should never be a barrier to opportunity. And I will never stop working to cancel debt, despite Republican officials’ attempts to stop us,” the President said.
The Biden administration has consistently sought ways to fulfill the President’s campaign promise to cancel student debt, despite a ruling from the Supreme Court last year.
Last June, the Supreme Court struck down a broader student loan cancellation plan that aimed to forgive $10,000 or $20,000 per student in federally owned debt, ruling that the administration lacked the authority for such sweeping measures.
Critics continue to argue that the President lacks the broad authority to cancel student loans both unilaterally and in roundabout efforts. In response to the latest initiative, Congressman Mike Simples posted on X, “President Biden continues to add to the taxpayer tab in his student loan forgiveness scheme. Again, there is no such thing as ‘canceling’ student loan debt.
“Someone always has to pay. In this case, the 87% of American adults who DO NOT have student loans will be footing the $7,700,000,000 bill,” he added.
