WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is canceling federal student loans for another 55,000 workers through an existing program known as Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
The Education Department’s announcement Friday targets teachers, nurses, service members, law enforcement officials and others who’ve reached eligibility through the program, which promises to erase loans after 10 years of work in government or nonprofit jobs.
The $4.28 billion in relief is expected to be the final round of public service loan forgiveness before President Joe Biden leaves office in January. After failing to deliver his promise of widespread loan cancellation, Biden has instead focused on expanding loan relief through programs that were created before his presidency.
Under Biden, the Education Department loosened the rules for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, which previously had a 99% rejection rate amid burdensome rules and widespread confusion over eligibility requirements.
With the latest round of relief, Biden has now canceled an unprecedented $180 billion in federal student loans through existing programs, covering 4.9 million Americans. That includes $78 billion for roughly 1 million borrowers through PSLF.
“From Day One of my Administration, I promised to make sure that higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity,” Biden said in a statement. “Because of our actions, millions of people across the country now have the breathing room to start businesses, save for retirement, and pursue life plans they had to put on hold because of the burden of student loan debt.”
Still, the Democrat has fallen short of his goal to deliver widespread relief to millions of other Americans. Biden’s first attempt at mass cancellation was blocked by the Supreme Court, and his second attempt remains tangled in a legal battle brought by Republican states.
In October he proposed another rule that would cancel loans for people facing various kinds of financial hardship, though it’s unlikely to take effect.
Trump hasn’t detailed student loan plans for his second term, but on the campaign trail he called Biden’s cancellation plans illegal and “vile.” Republicans in Congress have slammed Biden over his cancellation work, saying it unfairly transfers the burden to taxpayers who didn’t go to college or already repaid their loans.
Collin is a national education reporter