Student loan forgiveness: Biden cancels another $1.2B in debt for public service workers
FILE - US President Joe Biden speaks during an event in Madison, Wisconsin, on April 8, 2024. Photographer: Daniel Steinle/Bloomberg via Getty Images
WASHINGTON - The Biden administration is forgiving roughly $1.2 billion in additional student loan debt for borrowers who work in public service.
The U.S. Department of Education announced on Thursday that 35,000 borrowers, including teachers, nurses, firefighters, and other public servants, will get student debt relief.
The announcement brings the total student loan forgiveness under the Biden administration to $168.5 billion for 4.76 million borrowers, according to the Education Department.
It added that the latest forgiveness was a result of "needed and long overdue improvements" to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.
President Joe Biden has worked to make it easier for borrowers in public service to qualify for the program amid his one-time, mass student loan forgiveness program getting struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
What is the Public Service Loan Forgiveness?
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program is open to public employees, which also includes roles like librarians, public interest lawyers, and military members.
It cancels a borrower's remaining student debt after 10 years of public interest work, or 120 monthly payments on their federal student loan balance.
The PSLF program was launched in 2007, but stringent rules meant that more than 90% of applicants were rejected, according to the Department of Education. Before Biden took office, only about 7,000 public servants had received debt relief through PSLF, it added.
In late 2021, the government temporarily relaxed the requirements for PSLF, making it easier for people to apply and be approved. Those relaxed requirements ended in October 2022.
The Education Department said the latest relief includes borrowers who have benefitted from that temporary waiver, as well as from "regulatory improvements made to the program" by the Biden administration.
Survey: 29% of borrowers say student loan debt has influence on their vote
The White House has used existing student loan forgiveness programs to bring more relief to borrowers, a move that could help sway some voters heading into the 2024 election.
A recent Bankrate Student Loans and the Presidential Election Survey found that roughly 29% of people with student loan debt said it will be a key factor in their vote in November.
The survey, conducted between May 16 and May 20, polled 2,407 adults, including 1,033 who had or currently have student loans to pay off.
Bankrate noted that 24% of respondents with student loan debt said they have trouble affording their monthly payments or have skipped at least one monthly payment (24%) since student loan payments resumed after a pandemic pause.
Meanwhile, 25% of people said they had to enroll in a new payment plan, forbearance, or deferment to reduce their monthly costs.
This story was reported from Cincinnati. Daniel Miller contributed.