Biden’s action, through more reforms to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, means he has canceled almost $180 billion for 4.9 million federal borrowers since the start of his presidency in 2021.
“The public servants approved for debt cancellation today include teachers, nurses, service members, law enforcement officials, and other public service workers who have dedicated their lives to giving back to their communities and who are finally earning the relief they are entitled to under the law,” Biden wrote in a statement Friday.
In the statement, Biden underscored his administration’s achievements for federal students and borrowers, including increasing the maximum Pell Grant award, addressing institutions that have taken advantage of students, and reforming “broken” student loan programs, such as Public Service Loan Forgiveness and income-driven repayment plans.
“From day one of my administration, I promised to make sure that higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity,” Biden wrote. “Because of our actions, millions of people across the country now have the breathing room to start businesses, save for retirement, and pursue life plans they had to put on hold because of the burden of student loan debt.”
The Biden administration had previewed that the president would take more action to cancel federal student debt before President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20 in a memo by White House chief of staff Jeff Zients last week.
“The president will also announce more student debt cancellation for public service workers and other borrowers,” Zients wrote.
Biden could cancel more federal student debt through borrower defense applications, according to Brookings Institution Brown Center on Education Policy fellow Katharine Meyer.
“They appear to be moving their proposed rules for more widespread forgiveness through the regulatory pipeline, but time is running out to enact any of those policies,” Meyer told the Washington Examiner this week. “The lower courts are on alert to look for early signs of any widespread forgiveness and this fall have been able to bring suits even before rules were finalized to block implementation.”
At the same time, many of Biden’s actions regarding federal student debt have been undermined by Republican-led lawsuits against, for example, his Saving on a Valuable Education Act and other income-driven repayment programs, with a federal judge ruling against the president’s efforts to salvage the plans in October after the Supreme Court made a similarly adverse decision against the original proposal last year.
Democrats, including Sens. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Dick Durbin (D-IL), in addition to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), have implored Biden to cancel more federal student debt of borrowers who have been defrauded by predatory schools.
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“We are here to demand that the Department of Education deliver on President Biden’s commitment to debt relief and process all outstanding borrower defense relief before President Trump slams the door shut on borrowers on Jan. 20,” Markey told reporters this month.
Among Biden’s reforms to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program is having it managed by the Department of Education through StudentAid.gov, instead of a single loan servicer so it is “easier for borrowers to track their progress toward forgiveness,” according to outgoing Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.