The Biden administration discharged another $4.9 billion in student loan debt for more than 73,600 borrowers, the Education Department announced.
That brings the total amount discharged since President Joe Biden took office to $136.6 billion for more than 3.7 million borrowers.
The latest discharges include $3.2 billion for 43,900 borrowers using the public service loan forgiveness (PSLF) program and waiver, and $1.7 billion for 29,700 borrowers under the one-time payment adjustment for income-driven repayment plans.
“The nearly $5 billion in additional debt relief announced today will go to teachers, social workers, and other public servants whose service to our communities have earned them Public Service Loan Forgiveness, as well as borrowers qualifying for income-driven repayment forgiveness because their payments are for the first time being accurately accounted for,” Miguel Cardona, Secretary of Education, said in a press statement released Thursday. “Today we are helping borrowers who were promised help with their loans, planned their lives around those promises, and earned forgiveness through years of payments.”
Debt relief under the one-time IDR payment adjustment is happening in waves until completed this summer. During these rolling waves, eligible borrowers will receive an email notifying them that they are eligible for relief.
PSLF loan discharge for military and certain professions in public service
Since taking office, the Biden administration has forgiven $56.7 billion for 793,400 borrowers under the PSLF program.
That makes teachers, nurses, doctors, lawyers, and other professionals who work in public service jobs with federal, state, local, or certain non-profit organizations eligible to have their remaining loan balances discharged after 10 years of payments through the PSLF program.
PSLF is also available for military service members who don’t qualify for other military loan forgiveness programs.
One-time IDR payment adjustment
The one-time payment adjustment for income-driven repayment plans was announced last year and counts certain months that were previously ineligible for student loan forgiveness.
The adjustment helps to reverse some of the damage caused by loan servicers that did not properly track deferments or steered borrowers to forbearance instead of income-driven repayment plans that would have counted toward years of payment.
Borrowers that were in repayment for 20 to 25 years started to see their debt discharged and received notices in August. These discharges are still being processed in waves until completed this summer.
In addition to relief given to PSLF borrowers and those benefiting from the one-time adjustment, almost 513,000 borrowers with a total and permanent disability received $11.7 billion in debt discharges and over 1.3 million borrowers who were defrauded by their schools received $22.5 billion in discharges under the borrower defense discharge, according to the Education Department.
Ronda is a personal finance senior reporter for Yahoo Finance and attorney with experience in law, insurance, education, and government.Follow her on X @writesronda
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