4.8M borrowers — including 1M in public service — have had student debt forgiven, Biden admin says

Skip to comments.

Posted on 11/17/2024 6:47:49 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced a milestone Thursday in its effort to cancel Americans' student debt: It has provided relief to more than 1 million borrowers who work in public service.

Through the Education Department's Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, the administration approved about $4.5 million in additional student loan relief for more than 60,000 borrowers, bringing the total relief through that program to $74 million for more than 1 million people.

That brings the total amount of student debt relief under the administration to $175 billion for more than 4.8 million borrowers over the nearly four years President Joe Biden has been in office, the department said.

The Education Department said that before Biden's presidency, only 7,000 public servants had ever received student debt relief through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. The program was previously "riddled by dysfunction," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement, adding that "countless public servants were trapped making payments on debts that should have been forgiven."

Cardona added that "pursuing a career in public service is not only a noble calling but a reliable pathway to becoming debt-free within a decade."

"Think about it, 7,000 to 1 million," Cardona told reporters on a call Wednesday previewing the announcement. "That’s an increase of more than 14,000% in less than four years. Let me say that again: We grew the number of public servants earning forgiveness by 14,000%."

Those who qualify for the program include nurses, social workers, teachers, first responders, service members and other public servants.

(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...

To: Oldeconomybuyer

2 posted on 11/17/2024 6:50:21 AM PST by 9YearLurker

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson