President Biden announced Friday that he is canceling $4.28 billion in student loans for nearly 55,000 public service workers as he prepares to exit the White House.
The latest round of debt forgiveness brings the total amount of canceled loans by Mr. Biden to $180 billion for nearly 5 million Americans, according to the Department of Education.
Friday’s action targets teachers, nurses, service members, law enforcement officials and others eligible under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which erases loans after a decade of work in government or nonprofit jobs.
Under Mr. Biden, roughly $78 billion in student loans for roughly 1 million borrowers has been forgiven through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. The program, which was established by President George W. Bush, had a 99% rejection rate until the Biden administration.
“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,” Mr. Biden said in a statement. “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.”
White House officials say this is likely the last round of debt forgiveness as Mr. Biden leaves office in roughly a month. During the 2020 presidential campaign, Mr. Biden promised to forgive student loans for millions of Americans but has fallen well short of his goal amid multiple legal setbacks.
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the administration’s first attempt at sweeping student loan forgiveness, ruling that it was an unconstitutional expansion of the president’s authority. Since then, Mr. Biden has sought more targeted approaches to forgiving debt.
President-elect Donald Trump has not said how he would handle the Biden student loan forgiveness program but has vowed to remodel the entire education system during his administration.
