On Wednesday, the administration of President Joe Biden announced that it is canceling $1.2 billion in student loans for around 153,000 individuals who qualify under a program designed to fulfill pledges to enhance loan forgiveness.
After the Supreme Court rejected a more comprehensive plan to forgive $430 billion in student loan debt in June of last year, Biden promised to look for alternative ways to address debt relief.
According to the White House, the government has now used executive measures to erase about 3.9 million people’s $138 billion in student debt.
The most recent announcement pertains to those who have been repaying loans totaling at least $12,000 for a minimum of ten years and who are involved in the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment program.
The decision will “particularly help community college and other borrowers with smaller loans and put many on track to being free of student debt faster than ever before,” claimed the White House.
Biden needs the support of young people and left-leaning progressives in order to win reelection in November, and they have been vociferous in their support of widespread student loan forgiveness. Republicans are mainly against these kinds of things.