President Joe Biden announced even more student loan forgiveness on Thursday that will see 78,000 public service workers have their education debt wiped clean.
The nearly $6 billion in student loan relief applies to teachers, nurses and firefighters who, due to previous failures with the system, did not receive the forgiveness they were promised for going into public service.
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF) was created in 2007 and aimed to forgive student debt for Americans who entered jobs in public service – but most never received their promised relief.
Biden pledged last year to find alternative avenues for tackling debt relief after a June Supreme Court ruling blocked his sweeping plan to cancel $430 billion in student loan debt.
President Joe Biden announced nearly $6 billion in student loan relief on Thursday for 78,000 public service workers
Advocates for student debt relief demonstrate outside the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. on June 30, 2023 when the Justices shot down Biden’s proposal for sweeping forgiveness
With a tough reelection rematch with former President Donald Trump in November, Biden is hoping to appeal to younger voters amid concerns over his age and fitness for office.
The Thursday announcement brings the student loan forgiveness total under President Biden to $150 billion.
Prior to Biden taking office, only about 7,000 public service workers with outstanding student debt received relief under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. But since making loan forgiveness a cornerstone of his agenda, 870,000 public service workers have had their student debt canceled, according to the White House.
‘These public service workers have dedicated their careers to serving their communities, but because of past administrative failures, never got the relief they were entitled to under the law,’ President Biden said in a statement on the announcement.
‘From day one of my Administration, I promised to fix broken student loan programs and make sure higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity,’ he continued. ‘I won’t back down from using every tool at my disposal to deliver student debt relief to more Americans, and build an economy from the middle out and bottom up.’
Since 2008, higher education debt has tripled. And according to Federal Student Aid figures as of June 2023, approximately 4.34 million student loan recipients make up $1.63 trillion in outstanding debt.
Steep interest coupled with high payment requirements on these particular federal loans have resulted in younger Americans struggling to purchase homes or make other significant investments to help fuel the economy.
After student loan repayment was paused for three years during the pandemic, those with outstanding balances found it difficult to resume their monthly payments.
Biden tried to pass widespread relief last year that would see most borrowers receiving forgiveness for between $10,000 and $20,000 for their student loans.
But the 6-3 conservative majority panel of justices on the Supreme Court struck down the proposal.
For years Democrats have pushed for government-level forgiveness for student loan borrowers. Republicans largely oppose the efforts, claiming that taxpayers who did not take out such loans or have already paid theirs off should not be responsible for contributing to the forgiveness.