The U.S. Department of Education approved about $6.8 billion in student debt relief for more than 113,000 borrowers through adjustments to its Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.
The relief — which the DOE says will average about $60,000 per borrower — is being given after President Biden made changes to the program in October, under which nonprofit and government employees can have their federal student loan debt forgiven after 10 years, or 120 payments.
While the debt forgiveness will come as a relief to those who qualify, the number represents only 0.26% of the 43.4 million Americans burdened by federal student loan debt.
Biden has come under pressure in recent weeks to make good on his campaign promise to forgive $10,000 worth of student loans per borrower as the deadline for the student loan payment moratorium approaches at the end of August. The president said he will either extend the moratorium, which has been in place since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, or do some sort of debt cancellation before then.
The White House has been looking into whether Biden has the legal authority to forgive student loan debt through executive action. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that the president was considering limiting his student loan forgiveness program to Americans earning less than $125,000 a year.
Forgiveness of $10,000 per borrower would clear loans for 15 million borrowers.
