President Joe Biden announced another wave of student debt relief on Thursday, raising the total amount of loan forgiveness to more than $175 billion, benefiting nearly 5 million borrowers since he took office.
This amount represents approximately 11% of all outstanding federal student loans.
With the November election just weeks away, the Biden-Harris administration is highlighting its historic efforts in student debt cancellation, even as Republicans continue to challenge these initiatives in court, questioning both their legality and financial impact.
The latest announcement brings an additional $4.5 billion in debt relief to around 60,000 borrowers through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
This program, designed to forgive loans for public-sector employees such as educators and healthcare workers after a decade of qualifying payments, has long been plagued by administrative hurdles.
When Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took office, only 7,000 people had successfully received forgiveness through PSLF, despite the program existing for over 15 years.
“For too long, the government failed to live up to its commitments,” said Biden, noting how his administration has taken steps to fix the system. In contrast, former President Donald Trump sought to eliminate the PSLF program altogether during his tenure.
More than a million borrowers have already seen relief through the revamped PSLF program, as the Department of Education has streamlined eligibility and eased application processes.
Despite these successes, the administration continues to face significant pushback. A central piece of Biden’s broader debt relief agenda—his one-time forgiveness plan that aimed to cancel up to $20,000 in student loans for millions of low- and middle-income Americans—was struck down by the Supreme Court last year.
The program, estimated to cost over $400 billion, had raised hopes for millions, many of whom received emails confirming their eligibility for forgiveness before the legal block halted progress.
In a recent interview on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, Vice President Harris addressed concerns from borrowers still waiting for relief.
“We are fighting, and I’m going to continue to fight for student debt relief,” she said.
Harris emphasized how student debt remains a major obstacle for many Americans, preventing them from taking significant life steps such as starting families or buying homes.
Meanwhile, newer initiatives like the Saving on a Valuable Education repayment plan, introduced by the Biden administration last year, have also faced legal roadblocks.
Republican-led states have mounted lawsuits challenging the Department of Education’s authority to implement such expensive relief programs.
Harris, in a Thursday statement, criticized Republican efforts to impede relief measures, saying, “While Republican elected officials do everything in their power to block millions of their own constituents from receiving this much-needed economic relief, I will continue our work to lower costs, make higher education more affordable, and relieve the burden of student debt.”
Despite setbacks, Biden has managed to deliver the most significant student loan forgiveness in U.S. history through existing channels.
For instance, nearly 572,000 borrowers with permanent disabilities have received the relief they were entitled to, while more than 1.6 million others—defrauded by their colleges—have also had their loans canceled.
The administration has also worked to resolve the backlog of claims that had accumulated during the Trump years, during which efforts were made to limit the program but ultimately failed.
Moreover, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona pointed out that many borrowers in the PSLF program were previously misled, often discovering, after years of payments, that they had the wrong type of loan or were in the wrong repayment plan.
“People lost faith. They called PSLF a cruel joke, a broken promise and a nightmare. This is how folks described the program to me when I became secretary,” Cardona said during a call with reporters.
To address these past issues, the Biden administration has undertaken a one-time recount of borrowers’ previous payments, ensuring any incorrect counts are rectified, and bringing many closer to debt forgiveness.
It has also introduced changes that provide credit toward forgiveness for late payments or payments made in installments or lump sums.
