House Progressives Applaud as Biden Student Debt Relief Tops $143 Billion

Progressive U.S. lawmakers and campaigners on Thursday cheered the Department of Education's announcement of nearly $6 billion in additional student loan relief—this time for public service workers—as President Joe Biden continues to find ways to work around a Supreme Court ruling limiting how he can eliminate educational debt.

The Department of Education (DOE) said the administration has approved $5.8 billion in student debt for around 78,000 borrowers, the result of adjustments to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. The move brings the total amount of student loan forgiveness approved by Biden administration to $143.6 billion for nearly 4 million borrowers.

"Of the estimated 43 million student loan borrowers in America, approximately 20% have either been approved for debt cancellation or have no current repayment obligation."

"For too long, our nation's teachers, nurses, social workers, firefighters, and other public servants faced logistical troubles and trap doors when they tried to access the debt relief they were entitled to under the law," U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement.

"With this announcement, the Biden-Harris administration is showing how we're taking further steps not only to fix those trap doors, but also to expand opportunity to many more Americans," Cardona added. "Today, more than 100 times more borrowers are eligible for PSLF than there were at the beginning of the administration."

Before 2021, only around 7,000 borrowers benefited from PSFL relief. During Biden's tenure, more than 871,000 people have had their student loan debt canceled after the administration updated and fixed key parts of the program, including by introducing a new help tool to simplify navigation of the debt relief process.

"The president gets it. Today, thousands more borrowers are finally able to imagine life after student debt," Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair (CPC) Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said in a statement.

Jayapal noted that after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the president's student debt cancellation program last June, Biden and Cardona "got to work" and have been "relentless in the pursuit of other avenues to help the millions of Americans burdened by student debt."

"With the administration's fixes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, teachers, nurses, firefighters, and others in public service will see their relief sooner and can finally start putting their hard-earned income towards buying homes, investing in their communities, and taking care of their families," she added.

Student loan attorney Adam Minsky noted this week that "of the estimated 43 million student loan borrowers in America, approximately 20% have either been approved for debt cancellation or have no current repayment obligation."

According to the Education Data Initiative, U.S. student loan debt in the United States currently totals more than $1.7 trillion.

Some advocates reacted to the Biden administration's announcement by calling for more debt relief and even tuition-free higher education.

"Americans have a right to an education, and it should be debt-free," the Student Debt Crisis Center said on social media. "The time to #CancelStudentDebt is now, not later."

Former Democratic Ohio state Sen. Nina Turnerasserted: "The more student debt canceled, the better. "We must keep pushing for more; it's a nearly $2 trillion crisis."

"We must stop saddling our students with this debt to begin with," Turner added. "We need tuition-free college."