On Thursday, the White House declared the waiver of an additional $5.8 billion in student loans for 78,000 public service workers. Alongside this relief effort, the administration is dispatching emails bearing President Joe Biden’s signature to another 380,000 borrowers in the public sector, informing them that they are one to two years away from receiving similar debt cancellation.
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Student Loan
This latest move in student loan relief coincides with President Biden’s reelection campaign and is likely to draw criticism from his Republican adversaries, who have accused him of attempting to sway voters through financial measures. Additionally, some have argued that the focus on loan forgiveness has overshadowed the implementation of a new college financial aid application, which has encountered numerous errors.
This action reflects President Biden’s recent trend of directly reaching out to specific groups of borrowers through executive actions at his disposal. In this instance, he is broadening his outreach efforts to encompass individuals on the verge of eligibility for debt cancellation under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, designed for teachers, firefighters, and other public service professionals.
In his recent State of the Union address, President Biden emphasized the reforms made to the PSLF program, highlighting the expansion of relief eligibility for millions of borrowers.
He stated, “When I was informed of the limitations on universal changes to student loan policies, I focused on improving two existing student loan programs to alleviate the burden of student debt for nearly 4 million Americans.”
The PSLF program offers full loan relief to borrowers who have served in public service roles and made consistent loan payments for a decade or more. In 2021, the administration extended the repayment timelines for thousands of borrowers under this program.
Officials have been recalculating the accounts of millions of PSLF borrowers, as well as those enrolled in income-based repayment plans, with plans to complete these assessments by July.
