Biden admin announces last round of student debt relief
Jan 16, 2025
The Biden administration announced Thursday its final round of student debt relief, topping off the most loan forgiveness ever given in a presidency.
The Department of Education announced it was forgiving more than $600 million of student loans for 4,550 borrowers through the income-driven repayment plan and 4,100 borrowers through Borrower Defense.
In total, the administration has given $188 billion of student debt relief to more than 5 million borrowers through 33 executive actions.
“Four years ago, President Biden made a promise to fix a broken student loan system. We rolled up our sleeves and, together, we fixed existing programs that had failed to deliver the relief they promised, took bold action on behalf of borrowers who had been cheated by their institutions, and brought financial breathing room to hardworking Americans — including public servants and borrowers with disabilities. Thanks to our relentless, unapologetic efforts, millions of Americans are approved for student loan forgiveness,” Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said.
“I’m incredibly proud of the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic achievements in making the life-changing potential of higher education more affordable and accessible for more people,” he added.
The administration touted 1.7 million borrowers received forgiveness under the Borrower Defense program, 1 million from the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, almost 1.5 million from income-driven repayment and more than 600,000 for those with permanent or total disabilities.
This action likely signals the last large amount of student debt relief borrowers will see for years as President-elect Trump, who takes office Monday, has signaled broad opposition to the loan forgiveness.