President Biden on Monday announced he is bailing out more than 150,000 Americans in his last week in office, bringing total loan "forgiveness" over the last four years to $183.6 billion for more than 5 million borrowers, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said.
The latest handouts go to nearly 85,000 borrowers whose schools “cheated or defrauded students,” 61,000 individuals with permanent disabilities, and 6,100 public service workers.
“My Administration has taken historic action to reduce the burden of student debt, hold bad actors accountable, and fight on behalf of students across the country,” Biden said in a statement. “This includes fixing the broken Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program and ensuring over 1 million public service workers receive the student loan relief they are entitled to under the law, approving student loan relief for 1.7 million borrowers who were cheated and defrauded by their schools, delivering student debt relief to 633,000 borrowers with total and permanent disabilities, and fixing administrative errors in the Income-Driven Repayment programs to deliver relief to over 1.4 million borrowers who have been in repayment for decades. My Administration also secured the largest increase to the maximum Pell Grant award in a decade to put higher-education in reach for more Americans."
Biden closed his statement by touting that he's “forgiven more student loan debt than any other administration in history.”
In a separate statement, Cardona said he was "proud" of the administration's work on this front.
"Four years ago, President Biden made a promise to fix a broken student loan system. Today, life-changing student debt relief is possible for more than five million borrowers—more than any other administration in history,” he said. "I’m proud of our work to bring relief to these hardworking Americans across the country, and of the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic achievements in making the potential of higher education possible for more people.”
As Republicans take hold of both chambers of Congress and the White House, Biden’s changes could be targeted for a rollback. But it’s unclear how far the next administration will go to tighten the cancellation spigot.
Trump proposed eliminating PSLF during his first term in office, but Congress rejected the idea. Project 2025, a blueprint created by the Heritage Foundation for a second Trump term, proposes ending PSLF, and narrowing borrower defense and making repayment plans less generous than existing ones.
Republicans have suggested that reversing Biden’s changes will be a priority. Earlier this month, Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., issued a report blasting Biden’s expansion of borrower defense, saying he “tried to stretch every possible law” to fulfill his campaign promises.
When Trump takes office, Foxx wrote, “the jig will finally be up.” (AP)
The Biden Admin just announced another round of student loan relief.
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) January 13, 2025
This is putting the tax burden on people who never signed up for it.pic.twitter.com/okyLBqIqJu
How many times does the Supreme Court have to tell him no before he stops breaking the law?
— Spencer Hakimian (@SpencerHakimian) January 13, 2025
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