On Wednesday, United States President Joe Biden's administration announced a new student loan debt cancellation program that would remove $9 billion worth of debt for roughly 125,000 borrowers.
The latest announcement means that the Biden administration has forgiven a total of $127 billion for nearly 3.6 million American borrowers. The Education Data Initiative noted that total student debt in the United States totals roughly $1.766 trillion, meaning the $9 billion program makes up about 0.5% of the total.
Student Loan Debt Forgiveness
The new recipients of student loan debt cancellation make up roughly 0.25% of the 43.6 million borrowers still in debt because of federal student loans in the U.S. Since 2006, the national student loan debt has more than tripled, based on numbers from the Education Data Initiative. About 93% of that debt is federal, and the other 7% is owed to other lenders, per Western Journal.
The administration released a statement saying that Biden had long believed that college should be a ticket to the middle and not become a burden that weighs on families for most of their lives. It added that since taking office, the president has taken unprecedented steps to fix the broken student loan system, make college more affordable, and work on making higher education accessible for more Americans.
In the last few years, average student loan debt in the United States has increased more than twice as fast as tuition. The Education Data Initiative also reported that 78% of Americans who identify as liberal support federal student loan forgiveness, while only about 39% of conservatives support similar programs.
Biden's latest announcement comes a few days after federal student loan repayments restarted after being paused for over three years. The Supreme Court struck down the president's hallmark student loan forgiveness program, which initially promised to forgive up to $20,000 in debt for low- and middle-income borrowers.
Joe Biden's Pledges
The recently announced cancellations come through three different existing debt relief programs that have previously been plagued with various issues. According to CNN, the White House is now conducting "fixes " to the system.
Roughly 51,000 borrowers who have been in repayment for at least two decades are getting relief thanks to a recount of their past payments. The Biden administration said that it found these borrowers already qualified for student loan forgiveness but missed out because of errors made by previous administrations.
Additionally, about 22,000 borrowers who have a total or permanent disability have been approved for an automatic debt discharge through a data match with the Social Security Administration.
Experts argue that Biden's decision to provide more student loan debt relief will help him as he plans to run for re-election in 2024. In a statement, higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz said that the president has forgiven more student loan debt than any other leader in the past. He notes that this distinguishes the Democrat from other candidates, said CNBC.
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