FILE - Education Secretary Miguel Cardona testifies during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 30, 2024. The Biden administration is cancelling student loans for another 160,000 borrowers through a combination of existing programs.
The latest relief will go to borrowers in three categories who hit certain milestones that make them eligible for cancellation. It will go to 54,000 borrowers who are enrolled in Biden’s new income-driven repayment plan, along with 39,000 enrolled in earlier income-driven plans, and about 67,000 who are eligible through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
The cancellation is moving forward even as Biden’s SAVE Plan faces legal challenges from Republican-led states. A group ofin April. In two federal lawsuits, the states say Biden needed to go through Congress for his overhaul of federal repayment plans. “One out of every 10 federal student loan borrowers approved for debt relief means one out of every 10 borrowers now has financial breathing room and a burden lifted,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement.Biden’s new plan aims to help borrowers with large sums of unpaid interest, those with older loans, those who attended low-value college programs, and those who face other hardships preventing them from repaying student loans.