WASHINGTON (AP) — A student loan cancellation program for public service workers has granted relief to more than 1 million Americans — up from just 7,000 who were approved before it was updated by the Biden administration two years ago.
President Joe Biden announced the milestone on Thursday, saying his administration restored a promise to America’s teachers, firefighters, nurses and other public servants. He celebrated it even as his broader student loan plans remain halted by courts following legal challenges by Republican-led states.
“For too long, the government failed to live up to its commitments,” Biden said in a statement. “We vowed to fix that, and because of actions from our administration, now over 1 million public service workers have gotten the relief they are entitled to under the law.”
In total, the administration says it has now canceled $175 billion for about 5 million borrowers using several existing programs. Public Service Loan Forgiveness accounts for the largest share of that relief, while others have had their loans canceled through income-driven payment plans and through a 1994 rule offering relief to students who were cheated by their schools.
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program was created in 2007, promising college graduates that the remainder of their federal student loans would be zeroed out after 10 years working in government or nonprofit jobs. But starting in 2017, the vast majority of applicants were rejected because of complicated and little-known eligibility rules.
A 2018 report from the Government Accountability Office found that 99% of applicants were denied, often because they weren’t in the right loan repayment plan or because their payments had temporarily been paused through deferment or forbearance — periods that weren’t counted toward the 10 years of public work.
The GAO faulted the Education Department for failing to make the rules clear.
The program was the subject of legal and political battles, with Democrats in Congress calling on the Trump administration to loosen the rules and uphold the spirit of the program. Betsy DeVos, the education secretary at the time, countered that she was faithfully following the rules passed by Congress.
Declaring that the program was “broken,” the Biden administration in 2021 offered a temporary waiver allowing borrowers to get credit for past periods of deferment or forbearance, among other changes. A year later, the Education Department updated the rules to expand eligibility more permanently.
Since then, waves of borrowers have been approved for cancellation as they reach the 10-year finish line. On Thursday, 60,000 more hit the mark, pushing the total past 1 million. When Biden took office, just 7,000 borrowers had been granted relief over the previous four years.
Republicans in Congress slammed Biden for working to forgive loans rather than make college less expensive.
“The Biden-Harris administration is circumventing Congress to shoehorn graduate degree holders and high-income borrowers into a program they were never eligible for and forcing hardworking Americans to pay for it in the process,” said Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., chair of the House Education and the Workforce Committee.
In all, the program has now erased $74 billion in loans for public workers.
“I want to send a message to college students across America that pursuing a career in public service is not only a noble calling but a reliable pathway to becoming debt-free within a decade,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement.
The milestone was applauded by supporters of student loan cancellation, including the nonprofit Young Invincibles.
“This program is essential to bring new workers into the important roles of public service and reward their contributions,” said Kristin McGuire, the group’s executive director. “After years of very little forgiveness through PSLF, one million borrowers free from debt is a massive achievement.”
After facing legal challenges to Biden’s own student loan plans, his administration has increasingly shifted attention to the record sums of loan cancellation granted through existing programs.
Biden campaigned on a promise of widespread student loan cancellation, but last year the Supreme Court blocked his proposal to cancel up to $20,000 for 40 million Americans. Biden ordered his Education Department to try again using a different legal justification, but a judge in Missouri temporarily halted the plan after several Republican states challenged it.
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