The Department of Education under US President Joe Biden stated on Friday, July 14 that it will forgive $39 billion in federal student loans for more than 800,000 borrowers over the course of the following month.
Miguel Cardona, the secretary of education, referred to the action as a “historic step” in a statement made on Friday.
“For far too long, borrowers fell through the cracks of a broken system that failed to keep accurate track of their progress towards forgiveness,” Cardona said.
“Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is taking another historic step to right these wrongs and announcing $39 billion in debt relief for another 804,000 borrowers.”
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“By fixing past administrative failures, we are ensuring everyone gets the forgiveness they deserve, just as we have done for public servants, students who were cheated by their colleges, and borrowers with permanent disabilities, including veterans,” Cardona added about the new plan.
“This Administration will not stop fighting to level the playing field in higher education.”
Republicans, meanwhile, blasted the Joe Biden administration for “fixing” the loan forgiveness proposal only a few weeks after the Supreme Court struck down a previous Education Department plan to erase $400 billion in student debt.
“The Biden administration’s blatantly political attempt to circumvent the Supreme Court is shameful,” Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), who chairs the House Education and Labor Committee, said in a statement.
“The Biden administration is trampling the rule of law, hurting borrowers, and abusing taxpayers to chase headlines.”
“This president is dead set on ruining our postsecondary education financing system for a few votes next November, taxpayers and the rule of law be damned,” she added.
More than 3.4 million students’ federal debt totalling more than $116.6 billion has been cancelled by the Education Department since Biden assumed office.
Depending on when they took out the loan and their payment arrangement, borrowers who have been repaying their debt for 20 or 25 years are eligible for forgiveness under the new plan.
“Today we are holding up the bargain we offered borrowers who have completed decades of repayment,” said Education Under Secretary James Kvaal.