More than 160,000 students will have their student loans forgiven, according to an announcement made by President Joe Biden on Wednesday.
The new plan will forgive $7.7 billion for the most recent group of borrowers, bringing the total amount of relief from Biden's efforts regarding student debt to $167 billion for 4.75 million people in the federal government, as The Hill reported.
One of the most recent initiatives to cancel student loans is the implementation of a number of income-driven repayment (IDR) schemes, one of which is the recently launched SAVE program by the president.
The 160,000 borrowers are either public service professionals, such as teachers, nurses, or law enforcement personnel, who are enrolled in the SAVE plan that was implemented by the Biden administration, or they are borrowers who were approved for relief as a result of changes to IDR plans.
From the Secretary of Education
“The Biden-Harris Administration remains persistent about our efforts to bring student debt relief to millions more across the country, and this announcement proves it,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement.
“One out of every 10 federal student loan borrowers approved for debt relief means one out of every 10 borrowers now has financial breathing room and a burden lifted.”
As part of his efforts to appeal to young people in front of the election in November, Biden has made the promise to forgive student debt a campaign promise for the year 2020.
This is just one part of the current president's increase in his efforts to draw in the younger demographic of late.
A total of more than 277,000 debtors had their student loans forgiven by the administration in the previous month.
Employees of public service organizations, individuals enrolled in IDR plans, debtors who had been scammed by their schools, and people with disabilities were the targets of these actions.
The previous month, Biden also revealed a proposal to provide relief to 25 million borrowers.
This plan will provide assistance to persons who are experiencing difficulty, individuals who engaged in low-financial-value education programs, individuals who are on IDR plans, and borrowers whose debt has escalated owing to unpaid interest.
Should the proposal be finalized, there is a high probability that it will be challenged in court.
Following the Supreme Court's decision in June to strike down the president's proposal to reduce student debt, the administration has been exploring several options in an effort to find a solution to the problem.
