Tipsheet

Before Exiting 2024 Race, Biden Announced He Used Taxpayer Dollars to 'Relieve' Student Loans

Jamie Parsons
Jamie Parsons  |  July 22, 2024 5:00 PM

The Biden administration announced it will relieve $1.2 billion in student loan debt for public service workers, another successful attempt to bypass last year's Supreme Court ruling to block President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan. 

On July 18, the Biden administration approved student loan relief for 35,000 borrowers through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. The recent announcement has brought the total loan forgiveness approved by the Biden administration to $168.5 billion for 4.76 million Americans, $69.2 billion of which has been through PSLF, the U.S. Department of Education wrote in a statement. 

Those who qualify for student debt relief are people enrolled in the PSLF program through a limited waiver, according to CBS. The Biden administration designed the waiver in 2021 to allow public service workers employed by nonprofits to apply to "receive credit for past repayments" that hadn't "previously" qualified for loan relief. Workers had until October 2022 to sign the waiver. 

More specifically, the student debt relief forgives the "remaining" student loan "balance" for workers who make the "required 120 qualifying monthly payments," the Department of Education wrote. 

"The additional Americans approved for the 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," Miguel Cardona, U.S. Secretary of Education, said. "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."

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Since taking office, Biden has adjusted the PSLF program, making it "easier" for borrowers to qualify for forgiveness. Then, in July 2024, the PSLF Program became fully managed by the Department of Education through StudentAid.gov, meaning borrowers can submit their PSLF form and "track" their "progress" toward debt forgiveness on StudentAid.gov.

The Biden administration's initial student loan forgiveness plan wanted to relieve $450 billion in debt; however, the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional under a 2003 federal law for a program to cancel nearly half a trillion dollars in student debt. Despite the Court's decision, Biden claimed he would "stop at nothing" to find "other ways" to relieve debt, and he is seen to be staying true to his word.

After the Biden administration announced that it would relieve another $1.2 billion in student loan debt, Biden reiterated the administration's plan to continue to forgive college debt for Americans. 

"From day one of my Administration, I promised to fight to ensure higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity," The White House wrote in a statement. "I will never stop working to make higher education affordable–no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stop it."

Biden decided to end his re-election bid on July 21.