Soon thousands more could clean up their student loan balances as the Biden administration works to identify borrowers who are eligible for public service student loan forgiveness. It is the latest effort by the Department of Education to provide relief to borrowers burdened with billions of dollars in student loan debt.
The number of student loan borrowers eligible for forgiveness through the public service loan forgiveness program is up to 100,000, the Department of Education said Wednesday, of the approximately 550,000 who were expected to eventually be granted the loan. sorry soon after the changes to the program last fall. The latter group amounts to approximately $ 6.2 billion in loans eligible for downgrade.
“Our nation’s public service workers must be able to rely on the promise to forgive public service loans. The Biden-Harris administration is fulfilling that promise by helping more and more eligible borrowers to forgive their loan balances.” . said the Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona. “The PSLF announcement made today means that more of our teachers, nurses, lifeguards, service members and many other public service workers will get significant relief.”
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The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program cancels direct loan balances for eligible borrowers working full-time in government or nonprofit organizations once they have made 120 qualified monthly loan payments under plans. qualified amortization. The program was part of a broader package of education legislation signed by President George W. Bush in 2007.
In October, the Biden administration announced a review of the program allowing borrowers to receive credit for previous loan repayment periods that might not have been otherwise qualified. Before rule changes, only 16,000 borrowers he had never received forgiveness through the program. In January, the changes had helped more than 70,000 borrowers to qualify for forgiveness for a total of nearly $ 5 billion.
The total of 100,000 borrowers who are now identified as eligible for forgiveness through the public service program is the latest effort in a steady push by the Biden administration to help student loan borrowers find relief.
According to the Department of Education, some 675,000 borrowers received more than $ 15 billion in federal student loans during President Joe Biden’s first year. This included $ 1.5 billion to borrowers who were found to have been taken advantage of by its institutions; $ 7 billion for more than 400,000 permanently disabled borrowers; and $ 1.26 billion for more than 100,000 borrowers who attended the now-closed ITT technical institute.
The Biden administration also expanded freezing of federal student loan payments amid the coronavirus pandemic for more than a year until May 2022.
But while the Biden administration has increased relief for some student loan borrowers, some advocates and lawmakers say efforts so far have not gone far enough. There is more than $ 1.7 trillion in student loan debt in the United States. More than 43 million borrowers have federal student loan debts.
Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, have called on the Biden administration to cancel $ 50,000 in student loan debt.
Mr. Biden has expressed his general support for canceling student loan debt, but has urged Congress to send him legislation. But Democratic lawmakers calling for student loan debt to be canceled argue that Biden has the authority to cancel it unilaterally.
Amid rising pressure last year, the Biden administration said it would examine the president’s authority to cancel student loan debt, but officials have yet to make any announcements.
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- Biden Administration
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