Biden-Harris Administration Approves Additional $1.2 Billion in Student Debt Relief for 35,000 Public Service Workers
The Biden-Harris Administration announced today the approval of roughly $1.2 billion in additional student loan relief for 35,000 borrowers across the country who work in public service. These approvals are the result of significant fixes that the Administration has made to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program. This relief builds on President Biden and his Administration’s efforts to provide relief to as many borrowers as possible across the country. Today’s announcement brings the total loan forgiveness approved by the Biden-Harris Administration to $168.5 billion for 4.76 million Americans, which includes $69.2 billion for 946,000 borrowers through PSLF. Before President Biden took office, only 7,000 public servants had received debt relief through PSLF.
“Once again, the Biden-Harris administration delivers on its historic efforts to reduce the burden of student debt—making needed and long overdue improvements to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program. The additional Americans approved for PSLF today are hardworking public servants who will finally receive the financial breathing room they were promised—and all PSLF recipients can easily track and manage the process through StudentAid.gov,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “This is relief that will bring real change in their lives and marks another win for this administration’s relentless and unapologetic work to fix a broken student loan system.”
This relief is a result of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to overhauling the PSLF Program, which supports public servants—including teachers, nurses, firefighters, and other public servants — by forgiving the remaining student loan balance for those who make the required 120 qualifying monthly payments.
The debt relief announced today includes borrowers who have benefitted from the Biden-Harris Administration’s limited PSLF waiver, a temporary opportunity that ended in October 2022, as well as from regulatory improvements made to the program by this Administration.
Secretary Cardona will head to Denmark, South Carolina to make this announcement with Congressman James Clyburn. They will visit Voorhees College and Denmark Technical College and speak to borrowers who have benefited from the Administration’s student loan relief efforts.
“The Biden-Harris Administration’s actions to tackle the burden of student loan debt are making a difference in the lives of my constituents,” Congressman Clyburn said. “Every day, teachers, law enforcement officials and other government employees who have dedicated their lives to serving our community, are benefiting from the efforts of this Administration to lower cost and build an economy from the bottom up.”
In addition to these fixes to PSLF, the Biden-Harris Administration has also implemented further improvements to PSLF to make it easier for borrowers to participate in the program. As of July 1, 2024, the PSLF Program is now fully managed by the Department through StudentAid.gov, rather than by a single, specialty loan servicer. That means that, for the first time, borrowers can now manage all aspects of their PSLF journey on StudentAid.gov, including submitting their PSLF form and tracking their progress toward forgiveness. These updates will simplify the process for borrowers and allow for faster processing of PSLF forms. These improvements have been in the works for since day one of the Administration as part of the Department’s efforts to overhaul loan servicing and implement significant improvements to all of its loan forgiveness programs, including PSLF.
An unparalleled track record of borrower assistance
The Biden-Harris Administration has taken historic steps to reduce the burden of student debt and ensure that student loans are not a barrier to educational and economic opportunity for students and families. The Administration secured a $900 increase to the Pell Grant—the largest increase in a decade —and finalized new rules to help protect borrowers from career programs that leave graduates with unaffordable debts or insufficient earnings. The Administration continues its work to issue debt relief regulations under the Higher Education Act, with regulations expected this fall.
In addition to the relief under PSLF, the Biden-Harris Administration has also approved:
· $51 billion for more than 1 million borrowers through administrative adjustments to income-driven repayment payment counts. These adjustments have brought borrowers closer to forgiveness and addressed longstanding concerns with the misuse of forbearance by loan servicers.
· $28.7 billion for more than 1.6 million borrowers who were cheated by their schools, saw their institutions precipitously close, or are covered by related court settlements.
· $14.1 billion for more than 548,000 borrowers with a total and permanent disability.
· $5.5 billion for 414,000 borrowers through the SAVE Plan.