President Biden announced Friday he would be canceling student debt of more than 277,000 borrowers.
The administration is forgiving $7.4 billion for borrowers in more than 40 states in the latest debt relief program, bringing the total amount of student loan cancellation over Biden’s presidency to $153 billion.
The latest loan forgiveness initiative is coming through various income-driven repayment (IDR) plans, including the president’s newly established SAVE program.
“From day one of my Administration, I promised to fight to ensure higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity. I will never stop working to cancel student debt – no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stop us,” Biden said in a statement.
Biden’s loan forgiveness actions have largely targeted public service workers, those on IDR plans, borrowers defrauded by their schools and people with disabilities.
“The administration is tone deaf. There’s no other way to put it,” Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), chair of the House Education Committee, said in response to Biden’s Friday announcement.
“We know that instead of doing its job the administration focused time, energy, and resources on its illegal student loan scheme. And that has been frustrating, especially since it has jeopardized the academic journey of millions of students,” Foxx said, referring to the difficulties with this year’s FAFSA rollout. “But what is absolutely maddening is that the administration is STILL not doing its job and instead focusing on its student loan shenanigans.”
This latest debt relief effort builds on Biden’s announcement earlier in the week to forgive loans for those on IDR plans, people who participated in low-financial-value education programs, individuals experiencing hardship and borrowers whose debt has grown due to unpaid interest.
The Penn Wharton Budget Model estimated the proposed plan announced earlier this week would cost around $84 billion.
However, it is still months before that plan could be approved and, almost certainly, go to court.
“We know what Republicans are going to do; we can’t stop them from that. But it’s also not going to stop the president from acting and taking action, like he is today,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said earlier this week.