President Joe Biden has wiped out the federal student debt for public service workers to the tune of $6 billion.
“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,” Biden said in a statement, NBC News reported.
The 78,000 eligible public service workers include teachers, nurses and firefighters, according to the White House.
“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,” Biden said. “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.”
This debt forgiveness allows “eligible borrowers to have their remaining debt forgiven if they have made a certain number of payments and are working for approved employers,” NBC reported. It is through Public Service Loan Forgiveness programs.
This is the latest in loan cancellations handled by the Biden administration.
About $5 billion was canceled in January for 74,000 public-sector borrowers. Officials have approved about $144 billion in federal loan forgiveness for about 4 million borrowers, the Biden administration said.
Next week, about 380,000 borrowers will receive an email stating their student loan should be canceled within two years.
Biden’s road to eliminating student debt has had its bumps.
In 2023, the Supreme Court annulled another student loan debt relief plan created by Biden since Congress hadn’t approved the move, NBC reported.
