Biden Administration's Student Debt Relief Efforts: A Breakdown of $68 Billion in Forgiveness

Strategic Insights -

President Joe Biden's administration has utilized existing debt cancellation programs to accelerate forgiveness for millions of borrowers, leading to a total of $68 billion in forgiveness for over 4.4 million borrowers since 2022. The administration's policies have been met with criticism from conservatives, who argue that they are fiscally irresponsible and unfair to Americans who never attended college or paid off their loans.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program has provided $68 billion in forgiveness for more than 942,000 borrowers, with the Biden administration temporarily relaxing the program's rules in 2022 to give hundreds of thousands of borrowers an easier path to loan forgiveness.
  • The Save plan, an updated income-driven repayment plan, has delivered relief for 414,000 borrowers, with the most generous forgiveness terms for borrowers who didn't owe much - those who borrowed $12,000 or less for undergraduate or graduate school receive loan forgiveness after making 10 years' worth of payments.
  • Income-driven repayment plans have been adjusted to provide $51 billion in forgiveness for more than 1 million borrowers, following a federal watchdog's finding that poor recordkeeping and misleading information had caused people to repay their loans for much longer than needed.
  • Borrower Defense to Repayment, Closed School Discharge, has provided $28.7 billion in forgiveness for more than 1.6 million borrowers, including those who were cheated by their schools, saw their colleges abruptly close, or are covered by related court settlements.
  • TDI (Total and Permanent Disability) has provided $14.1 billion in forgiveness for more than 548,000 borrowers who are totally and permanently disabled.

Statistics:

  • $68 billion total in forgiveness
  • 942,000 borrowers through Public Service Loan Forgiveness
  • 414,000 borrowers through Save
  • 1,000,000 borrowers through income-driven repayment adjustment
  • 1,600,000 borrowers through Borrower Defense to Repayment, Closed School Discharge
  • 548,000 borrowers through TDI
  • $51 billion forgiven through income-driven repayment adjustment
  • $28.7 billion forgiven through Borrower Defense to Repayment, Closed School Discharge
  • $14.1 billion forgiven through TDI

Sources:

  • The White House
  • The U.S. Department of Education
  • The Bipartisan Policy Center
  • The National Conference of State Legislatures
  • The House Committee on Education and Labor
  • The Republican-led states of Nebraska, Iowa, and Kansas.