Biden's Plan: $39B Student Debt Forgiveness for 800K Borrowers

The Education Department announced that President Biden's administration will cancel $39 billion in student debt for more than 804,000 borrowers.

This relief comes as a result of fixing income-driven repayment plans, allowing eligible borrowers who have made 20 or 25 years of monthly payments to qualify for forgiveness.

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The income-driven repayment program caps payment requirements for lower-income borrowers and forgives the remaining balance after a specific number of years.

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The Education Department acknowledged and addressed historical inaccuracies in the count of payments qualifying for forgiveness under these plans.

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Education Secretary Miguel Cardona stated that this relief is crucial for borrowers who have been failed by a broken system that didn't accurately track their progress towards forgiveness.

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Although Biden's original plan to cancel a significant amount of student debt was blocked by the Supreme Court, he remains committed to pursuing new measures for student loan relief.

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The Education Department is currently undergoing a regulatory "rulemaking" process to implement Biden's $430 billion loan relief plan, which is expected to take several months.

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The recent announcement of smaller-scale relief is part of a separate program that adjusts the count of payments made, as previously announced by the Biden administration in April last year.

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