CV NEWS FEED // The US Department of Education announced in a press release Friday that more than 804,000 Americans will be automatically forgiven over $39 billion in student loan debt in the next few weeks.
The new plan marks the latest step in the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness initiative, which has now approved over $116.6 billion in debt forgiveness for more than 3.4 million people.
According to the press release, the debt forgiveness is dependent on debtors’ monthly income-driven repayment plans, which are easily miscalculated. The Department of Education noted that people with student debt are eligible for the new forgiveness plan “if they have accumulated the equivalent of either 20 or 25 years of qualifying months” in their payment plans.
“For far too long, borrowers fell through the cracks of a broken system that failed to keep accurate track of their progress towards forgiveness,” US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in the press release. “Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is taking another historic step to right these wrongs and announcing $39 billion in debt relief for another 804,000 borrowers. By fixing past administrative failures, we are ensuring everyone gets the forgiveness they deserve, just as we have done for public servants, students who were cheated by their colleges, and borrowers with permanent disabilities, including veterans. This Administration will not stop fighting to level the playing field in higher education.”
“At the start of this Administration, millions of borrowers had earned loan forgiveness but never received it. That’s unacceptable,” Under Secretary James Kvaal said, according to the press release. “Today we are holding up the bargain we offered borrowers who have completed decades of repayment.”
The new debt forgiveness plan comes only weeks after the Supreme Court voted to reject Biden’s more expensive forgiveness plan, which was ruled as illegal under federal law, according to FOX Business.