The Biden administration said Thursday it would commit another $5.8 billion in student debt relief for 77,000 borrowers thanks to adjustments it made to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
PSLF is a program that forgives loan balances for people working for governments and certain nonprofits, such as teachers, nurses or firefighters, who have made at least 10 years of payments on their outstanding balance.
Administration officials have highlighted the progress expanding the reach of PSLF, which now counts 871,000 eligible borrowers.
"Today, more than 100 times more borrowers are eligible for PSLF than there were at the beginning of the administration," said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.
The president will also send emails to hundreds of thousands of borrowers who are on track to have their debt canceled through PSLF within the next two years. He will remind them of the benefits coming up and thank them for their work.
Biden administration announces $1.2 billion in new student debt relief
The discharged debt will apply to nearly 153,000 borrowers who are eligible for shortened forgiveness under the income-based SAVE Plan.
The latest batch of forgiveness follows a similar cancellation for nearly 74,000 PSLF borrowers earlier this year.
In 2023, a victory in court allowed the administration to widen the definition of repayment, which was particularly beneficial for borrowers over the age of 50 who were still paying down their student debt.
In total, the Biden administration has forgiven $143.6 billion in student loan debt held by close to 4 million people.
